Legacies
by Coldbee
Summary: Sequel to "Ties that Bond" and the final part to my trilogy. The invasion of Earth has begun. Do Batman, Wonder Woman, and The Justice League have what it takes to finally put a stop to this evil dictator's reign of terror?
1. Awakening

**A/N: **Hi guys! I think you all are really going to like this plot. Just to help clear things up. All three of these books take place after the last episode of the Justice League Unlimited series.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything!

* * *

**Awakening**

The sunlight peeked through the bedroom window as it slowly crept up Diana's beautiful face. Awakened from her sleep, she felt the warmth from both the sunlight beaming down on her and his body pressed against her back. Diana continued to lie on her side as she looked down at the muscular arm draped over her waist, anchoring her comfortably between him and the bed. Smiling, she slowly turned and faced her husband to watch him sleep peacefully. There was nothing better than waking up from a refreshing and relaxing sleep with Bruce, the love of her life – it was moments like these that truly made Diana the happiest. For a moment, it was just the two of them, by themselves, enjoying each other's embrace without a care in the world. It was the only time she could ever consistently count on seeing Bruce's face at peace. No pain to hold back, no Batman, no Bruce Wayne, no masks, no glare, no thinking, no analyzing, no logic, no missions, no troubles, no problems. Nothing. For a moment, that one moment, only the happiness they shared together filled their minds.

Diana couldn't help but grin as she continued to watch him. Bruce's face was so calm, breathing in a harmonious rhythm with the rest of his body. She looked down, seeing all the old scares and wounds that covered his otherwise perfect chest. Not wanting to wake him, Diana refrained herself from gliding her fingertips across each and every one of them. She would normally do so whenever she needed or wanted to remind herself of just how lucky she is to have Bruce alive and well. Diana's eyes drifted back up to Bruce's face until she saw his mouth slowly crack a smile. "Good morning Princess." Her eyes darted up to his as they stared at each other before he kissed her on her forehead.

Diana's grin widened as she playfully pushed Bruce away, making him lie on his back so she could rest her head on his chest. "I wish moments like these would last forever."

Holding her close, Bruce chuckled. "Moments like what? Waking up? We do that everyday."

Diana rolled her eyes while smacking him on his chest. "You know what I mean… besides, YOU don't wake up everyday."

"I don't?" Bruce smirked as he raised an eyebrow.

Diana crawled on top of Bruce, resting her chin on top of her hands as she looked down at him. "Half of the time I wake up in our bed by myself only to find you still working down in the cave."

Bruce began playing with Diana's hair with his fingers. "Well… if you woke up with me by your side everyday, you wouldn't cherish it as much."

Diana laughed. "Looks like you're coming to bed with me every night if you can't come up with something better than that. Care to try again?"

Bruce interlocked his fingers as he placed his hands on the small of her back. "Hmm… how about... If I woke up everyday with you by my side, I might take you for granted?"

Diana stared at him in disappointment. "Meh… what else you got?"

Bruce thought about it for a second before a grin appeared on his face. He watched Diana raise an eyebrow in curiosity. "Here is Princess Diana, the Champion of the Amazons… the all mighty, great, and powerful Wonder Woman. Have I done the impossible and made this once proud and independent Amazon become so dependent on the need to wake up with me by her side everyday?"

Diana hung her jaw in shock. So much for arguing… Bruce just ended it knowing that Diana's pride wouldn't allow her to say that she needed to wake up in his arms. "_Manipulative bastard…_" She pouted her lips as she watched Bruce's grin continue to widen. "Shut up" Diana playfully kneed him in the crotch as he started to laugh.

Bruce flinched before flipping Diana on her back. Quickly rolling on top of her, he pinned Diana's hands above her head with his. they lustfully stared into each other's eyes knowing that the mind games had begun. With Bruce's face inches away from hers, Diana couldn't help but bite her bottom lip as a mischievous grin formed across her face. His eyes slowly rolled down as his gaze fell upon her perfectly voluptuous breasts before moving onto the rest of her beautifully perfect and curvaceous body. Bruce took his time soaking in the perfection that was Diana as his sights returned to her pearly blue eyes. He watched Diana seductively lick her lips as she rubbed her silky smooth thighs against his. "First you knee me in the crotch… and now you're teasing me? You're going to pay for that…"

"My Lord… all your weapons and forces are in position and ready to strike." The nervous but faithful servant kneeled before his powerful ruler.

The room was dark as the only sources of light were emanating from the fire burning on the two torches standing on each side of the throne. The floor and walls were covered in grime and ash, further amplifying the cold dark atmosphere within the chamber. It didn't help calm the servant's nerves to see the dead bodies of the other servants who had the unfortunate task of reporting less than satisfying news to Lord Darkseid. The blood red eyes of his Master narrowed as he stood up. "Prepare my forces for the invasion of Earth. It is time for Kal-El to bow before me as I destroy everything he so foolishly tries to protect."

"Yes Lord Darkseid" The servant quickly rushed out the door to leave his Master alone with his thoughts.

It has been more than five years since The Justice League last saw Darkseid disappear with Lex Luthor along with the anti-life equation. Darkseid realized what Lex Luthor had already known about the powers of the anti-life equation the instant he touched the glowing artifact and was teleported to the edge of the universe. It was created to give its possessors the ultimate knowledge and power to rule the universe… to be able to know everything in the universe while having the highest mental intellect of any being. Wanting to be the sole possessor of this ultimate power, Darkseid immediately killed Luthor with his omega beam after forcing him to translate the inscriptions. Over the years, he mastered the powers of the anti-life equation while traveling from one side of the universe to the other, collecting the most powerful weapons and technological equipment to conquer anyone and everyone who would oppose him. Darkseid's journey through space left a trail of death and complete annihilation of the worlds that drew the horrible fate of having what he desired.

Darkseid walked out onto the balcony, watching his forces eagerly waiting to be teleported to Earth by the use of the Boom Tubes. His massive army stood in the millions, armed with the most powerful weapons in the universe. He gazed around his world of Apokolips, lava constantly bursting out into the atmosphere from the multiple geysers across the land and filling the ground with soot and grime. Parademons were flying through the crimson skies as ash clouds continue to grow from each and every volcanic eruption. If there was a place that truly defined hell, this was it. "_I have waited a long time for this day Kal-El…On this day, the universe shill witness the dawning of a new era._"

* * *

**A/N: **I know this chapter is kind of short but it does set up things nicely right? Thanks for reading, and let me know what you think!


	2. Inevitability

**A/N: **Thanks for the reviews guys! I'll try to make sure the scene changes are more clear and/or easier to spot. I've decided to write one more calm chapter that further explains my view on Bruce and Diana's relationship. After that, I think there will probably be nothing but action chapters from there.

* * *

**Inevitability **

"_Lets see…how am I going to do this…he won't do it willingly. I'll have to either trick him or corner him into doing it._" Diana floated down the stairway into the cave as she spotted her husband sitting in his chair working on the computer as usual. Humming, she leaned against the back of the chair while wrapping her arms around his neck. Diana's fingers gently caressed Bruce's chest as she let her soft free flowing hair rest on top of his head.

"_She's up to something…wants me to do something…_" Bruce knew Diana wanted him to do something that he would normally refuse to do by the way she waited for him to acknowledge her presence. The humming was an obvious tip-off as well. Deciding to not make it easy for her to get what she ultimately wanted from him, Bruce ignored Diana as he continued his work.

"_Damn…he knows…Plan B it is then…_" Diana smirked as she hovered around the chair and sat on his lap, making sure not to completely block him off from the computer. Diana gently took off his cowl before resting against him as she seductively traced the bat insignia on his chest with her fingers. Still humming, she patiently waited for Bruce to completely sit back into the chair so that she could comfortably curl up in his lap. Bruce stubbornly continued to ignore Diana as he used his left hand to type on the keyboard while supporting her with his right. Seeing that Bruce wasn't going to give her his attention so easily, Diana cupped Bruce's left cheek with her right hand and turned his face towards her. She began kissing him with such great passion and intensity that he couldn't help but to stop working. After feeling her soft luscious lips being smashed against his for a few minutes, Bruce finally gave in and responded by matching her intensity. Bruce hungrily pulled her closer to him while shifting to the back of his chair, allowing Diana to finally curl up into her usual comfortable spot on his lap.

Finally breaking their kiss to catch much needed oxygen, Diana smiled as she looked down at the bat symbol and traced it with her fingers once again. "Do you want to know what I did today?"

Bruce's left hand went back to typing on the keyboard, splitting his attention between his wife and his work. "Went to the league's meeting in the morning…"

"That you were supposed to attend!" Diana couldn't help but to blurt that out.

"I was busy" Bruce stated flatly.

Diana laughed "Uh huh… of course you were…"

Bruce continued to stare at the computer screen. "Had a training session with Donna, then had lunch with Kent and Lois before spending the afternoon with them."

Diana smiled as she shook her head. "Always checking up on me…"

"Hardly… you told me what you were planning to do today in the morning, remember?" Bruce finished typing, giving Diana his full attention for the moment.

"Oh yea… I forgot..." Diana chuckled before getting straight to the point. "After Kal and I dropped off Lois, He and I began talking… He's having trouble dealing with a certain issue in his life…" Bruce instantly became uninterested as he started to reach for the keyboard with his left hand. Forcing him to keep his attention on her, Diana quickly grabbed it and interlocked their fingers. Pulling his hand towards her, she titled her head and smiled. "If he came to you for help, you would help him right?"

"Tell him that life isn't fair, deal with it." Bruce said in his usual unemotional tone.

"That's such a Batman answer…" Diana smacked him on the arm.

Bruce smirked. "Well… I am Batman…"

Diana's face became serious as she looked down at his hand holding hers. "He's going through a problem with Lois."

Bruce studied Diana's face as she slowly looked back into his eyes. Knowing exactly what she wanted him to do, he quickly and decisively shook his head. "No… You want me to listen to him, help him with his emotional issues, and open up about mine? No, No, and HELL NO!"

Diana released her grip on Bruce's hand to cup his cheek while gliding her thumb along his lips. "Come on Bruce… he really needs your help. Do it for me? Please?"

Bruce simply refused to do it as he stubbornly glared at her without any hint of emotion. It was working until Diana stuck her bottom lip out, giving him the saddest puppy dog face she could. "_Damn it…_" Realizing that Diana had already made the decision for him, he dropped his head back onto the chair's headrest as he stared into the darkness of the cave's ceiling. "He's already upstairs isn't he…?"

Diana's face instantly lit up as she grinned from ear to ear. "You're the best! I knew you would choose to do the right thing." She quickly kissed him before yelling out "Kal you can come down now."

Bruce placed his left hand on the left temple of his head while closing his eyes. "Why do I let you talk me into doing these things?"

"Because _I_ love you." It was a rhetorical question, but Diana answered it anyways as she took his hand off his forehead and held it.

Bruce opened his eyes as he looked back at Diana while Clark slowly came towards them. "As you know Princess… I'm good at many things, but being a relationship counselor isn't one of them."

Diana stood up and pulled Bruce out of his chair so that they were standing inches apart from each other. "Don't worry… this isn't one of those kinds of problems." Diana took a few steps back to let Batman and Superman talk. She knew that both of them felt awkward about the current situation that they were in. Bruce of course, hid it behind his emotionless stare very well. Clark on the other hand, kept looking at the floor as he scratched the back of his head. Diana shifted her eyes between the two during the awkward silence. "_Boys…_" Diana squeezed the bridge of her nose in annoyance as if she had a painfully irritating migraine.

Before Diana could stay anything, Bruce barked out "You have five minutes Kent, I'm busy."

"Bruce!" Diana whispered angrily as she glared at him.

Clark jumped at the cold harsh tone embedded in Bruce's voice. He didn't know why, he was used to hearing it all the time. Talking to Diana was so much easier. Clark didn't believe that Bruce would actually agree to talk to him about his problem because… well… it's Bruce. When has Batman ever comforted anyone or expressed compassion towards another? He wondered how Diana manages to continuously get Bruce to do the things he would normally never do under any circumstances. Finally looking up at Bruce, Clark took a deep breath before telling his friend what was on his mind. "I… uh… when…" Clark didn't exactly know how to begin talking to Bruce about this. He figured Bruce would have done the usual Batman thing and glare at him while telling him to call for help only in emergencies. Clark walked up to the computer, placing his palms face down as he leaned on it while watching the screen. "When you first started seeing Diana… how did you get through your mortality issues?"

"I didn't" Bruce said flatly, to Clark's surprise. Bruce instantly knew where this was going. The only question left was whether Clark had come to him for help on getting over it or preventing it. "She forced me to have a relationship with her despite my greatest efforts to prevent it."

Diana grinned as she spoke with a sarcastic tone. "It's always nice to be reminded of how enthusiastic you were about being with me." She crossed her arms over her chest while sitting back down in his chair.

Bruce smirked back at her. "Think of it as you capturing the uncatchable." He turned back to Clark and spoke in a more comforting tone. "Look Clark, its simple… she is going to die." Clark snapped his head towards him and glared. Bruce raised his hand, signaling to Clark to let him finish. "Death is inevitable… The sooner you accept that, the sooner you can get through this. When I was initially dating Diana, I expected to eventually die. The only thing I was worried about was how Diana would take it. I didn't want to cause her the pain, grief, and burden that came with losing a loved one."

Diana's mind quickly went back to the time Bruce had died in her arms… how she took it extremely hard and wanted to die with him. She never wanted to experience that feeling again – never again. There was no way she would ever allow him to die again. No one was going to take him away from her.

"So you solved your problem when you became immortal…" Clark said as he looked at Diana sitting in Bruce's chair before returning his attention to Bruce.

Bruce shook his head. "No. We both are immortal, but we aren't invulnerable. Either of us could die on the battle field at any time. Granted, only someone or something more powerful than us could kill us… but it's still possible nevertheless. I could die tomorrow and she would have to live the rest of her life without me…"

"But I'd never allow that to happen." Diana quickly said while staring at Bruce, daring him to challenge her.

Bruce took the bait as he waved her off. "Better me than you. My life isn't important, yours is."

"Like Hades yours isn't!" Diana angrily got out of the chair to poke Bruce in the chest as she spoke. "If I ever catch you trying to sacrifice yourself again, I'll kill you myself! And don't even think that I'm just going stand by and let you die. You're too important to ME!"

Hearing this argument a million times before, Clark rolled his eyes in annoyance. It usually took place after Batman had sacrificed himself to save Diana or the world, and somehow find a way to miraculously survive at the very last second. They both stubbornly refused to allow the other to succumb to injury as each would easily give up their own life to save the other. Their arguments would get extremely intense and heated each and every time, but always seemed to end up in the same way… Avoid each other for the rest of the day, and then be happier than usual the next morning – if they showed up.

Thankfully Clark didn't have to interrupt them as they both realized that they were digressing from Clark's problem. Diana and Bruce regained their composure before Bruce continued. "The point is Clark, death is inevitable… we live to die. That's it. People try to prolong it, but that will only last for so long… and it usually comes with a heavy price." This is where Bruce figured he would find out what Clark's true intentions were in coming to him for help.

Clark sighed as he looked up at the cave's ceiling. "I know Bruce… it's just that… I won't naturally die for who knows how long… and Lois…" Clark closed his eyes as he turned his head away, towards the opposite end of the cave. "I accept the fact that she will eventually die. But I just don't see how I can live the rest of my life… knowing I'll live for so long without her…"

Bruce knew the answer to his own question when he saw the desperate look on Clark's face. "Just because many people have found ways to prolong the inevitable, myself included, doesn't mean it's an easy thing to do…"

Clark nodded his head. "I know I know… it's just… I don't know… I'm sorry…"

Diana came up and held Bruce's left hand with the both of hers as she rested her head on his shoulder. Bruce looked at Diana before bring his focus back to Clark. "Have you discussed this with Lois?"

"No... I… I don't want to burden her with it." Clark sighed, clearly frustrated by this unusual predicament.

Bruce quickly thought about all the possible and potential ways to help Clark. "Discuss this with her and if you both agree... I'll look into it, but I'm not guaranteeing anything."

Clark smiled as if a heavy burden was lifted off of his shoulders. "Thanks Bruce, really… I appreciate it."

Bruce smirked. "What are friends for?"

Clark smiled as he nodded to both Diana and Bruce before taking off to see his wife in Metropolis.

Diana turned to Bruce, raising her eyebrow as an ear to ear grin reappeared on her face. "See… that wasn't so bad."

Bruce glared at her. "Anything's better than going through that again."

Diana laughed as she smacked him on the chest. "Oh really? I'll remember that the next time I want you to take me dancing."

* * *

**A/N: **Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think!


	3. Invasion

**A/N: **Hi guys! Just like I promised earlier, I've gotten back to some of the questions left unanswered in the ending of "Ties that Bond". I do like having Batman and Superman's friendship at a comfortable state too… I promise to do my best to make their friendship as legendary as I possibly can!I'm not sure if this is also going to be 14 chapters, I didn't even notice. I think maybe it was just a coincidence?

Thanks again for all the support. I hope you enjoy this chapter, and please let me know what you think!

* * *

**Invasion**

Batman was crouching on the ledge of an office building in the financial district with Wonder Woman standing inches behind him with her arms crossed over her chest. They remained still, hidden within the darkness of the shadows created by the moon. The only thing that gave their position away was Diana's soft raven colored hair fluttering in the wind. It was an oddly quiet night as Diana looked at the stars sparkling throughout the sky.

"I feel like a janitor cleaning up after Hood's mess…" Robin's voice rang through the earpieces of both Batman and Wonder Woman.

Batman tapped his earpiece as he spoke. "Did anyone die this time?"

"Let's just say that Zsasz's infamous kill count has finally maxed out..." Robin said sarcastically.

"Understood, wait till G.P.D. gets there then continue on your route. I'll deal with him later." Batman's eyes narrowed as his jaw clenched tightly. "Damn it Jason…"

Diana placed her hand on his shoulder. "At least he's not against us anymore."

Batman stood up and stared into the night. "He's just too reckless… Once you kill someone, it becomes that much easier to do it again."

It's been four months since Jason resurfaced from the incident in Ethiopia to "help" rid Gotham of the scum that continues to defile it. After regaining his sanity, Jason's relationship with the rest of the batclan was edgy to say the least. It was mostly due to his strong belief that Batman's way was heavily flawed, and that the only way to truly stop the evil that tormented the world was to kill the ones most responsible for it. Jason didn't stay long and left the batclan to do things his way under The Hood persona. The first thing he did as The Hood was avenge his own death by savagely beating The Joker to death with two crowbars. Many things coincidentally changed since the news of The Hood killing The Joker broke out, some for the better… and some for the worst.

Jason believed that it was the fact that he killed The Joker that made several high profile villains change their ways. Harvey Dent regained control of himself and silenced his psychotic split personality by surgically repairing the heavily scarred left side of his face. Evidently, Dent's decision to straighten out his life and fight on the side of justice had more to do with the brutal beating Batman gave him in Arkham than hearing about The Joker's death. Witnessing Batman's rage made Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn straighten out their lives as well. They teamed up to open up their own floral atrium and gymnasium. It remains to be seen if they have actually done it legally, but Batman gave them the benefit of the doubt since they weren't causing any trouble. The Riddler developed a brain tumor and has been hospitalized ever since, while Bane broke out of the hospital after his humiliating defeat at Arkham and was never seen again. Batman traced his whereabouts to somewhere in South America. Mr. Freeze received a generous amount of funding from the Wayne Foundation and returned to his successful scientific roots while curing both himself and his beloved wife. He's currently working on the cure for cancer as a senior molecular biological specialist in the Wayne science industry.

The rest of the high profile inmates of Arkham still continued their work of chaotic madness, but the real backlash of the Joker killing was how the lower level criminals reacted. They started working for themselves instead of relying on the likes of The Joker or The Riddler for money. Afraid of running into The Hood, the thugs started carrying automatic rifles and shotguns instead of pistols and small submachine guns like before. That directly caused the exponential spike in the occurrences of armed robberies and gun shot victims appearing at hospitals.

By law, the Gotham P.D. had to issue a warrant for The Hood's arrest for homicide… even if The Joker deserved it. As far as they were concerned, it was one less major headache to deal with. The warrant however, raised a conflict of interest within the batclan. They couldn't turn him in without revealing his identity, which would mean that everyone could easily link him to the Wayne family tree. Killing The Joker really put everyone in a tough situation. Batman would catch up to Hood every now and then to warn him about going to far. Their conversations never were very friendly as both would be extremely cold towards the other. They both had an unspoken agreement about the notoriety of The Hood's victims. Batman wouldn't turn him in and allow Jason to continue his work as long as he didn't kill anyone unnecessarily. So far, The Hood's homicide victims have only been notorious mass murderers: The Joker, Killer Croc, and now Mr. Zsasz.

"Wonder Woman! Batman! Come in! We have a situation!" J'onn's voice aired through their com links.

"This is Wonder Woman, go ahead J'onn." Diana quickly tapped her earpiece.

"We're under heavy attack! Darkseid has returned… his ship is over the league's embassy while our scanners have picked up multiple Boom Tubes across the world. We…" J'onn's connection was cut off as both Wonder Woman and Batman watched several Boom Tubes appear above Gotham, releasing thousands of Parademons all over the city.

Diana had never seen Gotham in such a decimated and chaotic state as it was at this particular moment. It was just minutes ago that the streets and skies of Gotham were peacefully quiet. Now it seems as if it was an extension of Hades. Buildings were either on fire or crumbling to the ground, dead bodies covered in blood littered the streets, and people filled with fear and panic aimlessly running for their lives. Sirens were going off as the police, paramedics, and firefighters were scrambling to help as many people as possible while trying to avoid the rampaging Parademons at all costs.

"J'onn! Come in J'onn! Are you there?" Diana shouted into her com link as Batman grabbed her and pulled her deeper into the shadows as a few Parademons flew by. The both of them watched as the demons continued to destroy the city.

Diana was about to fly and fight them when Batman quickly grabbed her wrist. She immediately turned around to question his hesitation in helping the citizens of Gotham. "Wait" was all she got from him. Diana wanted a better explanation than that but watched Batman quickly tap his earpiece. "Oracle did you get all that?"

"Yes. Darkseid has taken complete control over the embassy, including all the satellites in orbit. I was able to patch into the embassy's security system before they went down. It appears that the Parademons are hunting all Justice League members… they're capturing them with some sort of powerful restraints that can't be broken." Batman tightened his grip on Diana's wrist as he listened to Oracle. He knew that she still stubbornly wanted to help the people, despite the fact that they were being hunted.

"Robin, Batgirl, did you two get that?" Batman pulled Diana closer to him before wrapping his arm around her waist, not allowing her to leave.

"We have to help them!" Diana whispered angrily as she continued to watch Parademons kill innocent people and destroy building after building.

Batman ignored her as he waited for Robin's response. "Yea we got it. What do you want to do?" It was a good thing that the Wayne Enterprises office building was also secretly used as Batman's own antenna for communication within his team.

"Oracle, if Darkseid has taken over the embassy, he'll also have control of their entire network. Download everything you have on their security system into a hard drive… then destroy all your computers." Batman gave Wonder Woman a look, telling her to trust his judgment. She shifted her sights between the vicious chaos and her husband before finally sighing in frustration and nodding in agreement.

"Way ahead of you, downloading now." Oracle said quickly.

"BATMAN!" Batgirl's voice rang out. When Cassandra spoke, everyone listened because as rare as it is for her to speak, especially while on patrol, she would only do so if it was absolutely necessary. Over the past few months, Diana made it a priority to spend time with her. Becoming very close to each other, Diana was able to encourage Cassandra to talk more often. She still had the quiet personality, but now it wasn't uncommon for her to have a conversation with someone. Of course, Cassandra spoke freely only to the members of the batclan. She didn't believe it was necessary to have a lengthy conversation with anyone else. "Batman! They got Robin… They…" Her voice was cut off as there were sounds of scuffling in the background before the connection died.

"BATGIRL!" Batman shouted as he instantly realized the idiotic mistake that he just made. He quickly grabbed Diana by the hand and jumped down into the alley. As they were falling towards the ground, Batman took out a few bat-a-rangs and threw them at the all the nearby windows to create possible escape routes. After landing on the ground, Batman took out a few more bat-a-rangs and broke the nearby streetlamps that illuminated the alley. He immediately kicked open a door and ran inside with Wonder Woman. After barricading the door, he broke the main light inside the room with another well placed bat-a-rang. They heard several Parademons scramble down the alley and into the other broken windows looking for them. They waited quietly until the Parademons lost interest and left to destroy something else while continuing their search.

Batman reached back to enable his earpiece. "I'm not taking any chances. Darkseid will probably hack into our systems. Did you upload everything into a hard drive yet?"

"Yes… I also checked on Robin and Batgirl, their trackers indicate that they have been taken back to a local ship. Their vital systems show that they're alright for the time being." Diana breathed a sigh of relief as she heard Oracle's status report on Robin and Batgirl. They were captured, but at least they are alive… and that had to suffice for now.

"Destroy everything. Don't leave a single bit of information left. Go home and I'll find a way to get to you." Batman motioned to Wonder Woman to follow him as he made his way to an abandoned security office. Diana took a quick glance around the room. It looked like the building's entire security staff had left in a hurry. With all the chaos and destruction currently going on outside, she didn't understand why they would leave the building. Still frustrated and annoyed about hiding, she returned her focus back to Batman. Diana was losing her patience as she began taping her foot while folding her arms over her chest. Batman was watching the monitors to see if the building was clear of Parademons before making their next move.

"You got it. Oracle out." Batman heard her end the communication feed before turning back to Wonder Woman. He looked at her and saw that she was still pissed off. She never liked running away from a fight, especially if innocent people were being harmed. He didn't either, but he had to be smart about this and be patient enough for the both of them.

"Batman! How can we not help them? Every member of the league is doing their part despite being hunted. Why are we hiding like cowards?" Diana whispered angrily as she stomped her foot in protest.

"We pick our spots Princess… There's no point in fighting bravely if you rush in foolishly. We won't do them any good if we get captured as well. We'll be more useful if we can get back to the cave and find out exactly what's going on." Batman watched Diana narrow her eyes as she continued to glare at him. "Diana… yes, I know many innocent people are dying, but if we go and try to save them now, we'll be captured… and more will die."

"What makes you think they will capture us?" Diana bitterly spat out.

Batman took a deep breath. "Because they've already got everybody else…" He reached up to tuck the loose strands of hair that was blocking Diana's face behind her ear. She defiantly looked away, still angry at his insistence to hide.

"And just how do you know that?" Diana turned back, glaring at him.

Batman grabbed Diana's hand and walked her over to the monitors, pointing to one of the television screens. At first Diana resisted, but allowed him to bring her to the monitors. Diana's eyes widened in shock when she looked at what Batman wanted to show her. It had the local news on, showing Darkseid holding Superman by the throat as he lifted him up into the air. "Hera! Help us…" Diana couldn't believe it. Superman was trapped in those weird mechanical restraints while being beaten down by Darkseid. She saw most of the captured leaguers in the background helplessly watching Darkseid hammer away at Superman. Diana turned back to Batman with an apologetic and worried look. "What are we going to do?"

Batman motioned for her to follow him out of the room. "I'm working on it… we have to get back to the cave."


	4. Faith

**A/N:** Thanks for all the support guys! I really appreciate it. I hope this chapter is to your liking!

* * *

**Faith**

"You are pathetic…" Darkseid narrowed his blood red eyes as he tightened his grip on Superman's neck. They remained hovering in the air, above the center of the embassy's courtyard.

With the entire city in ruins and Parademons patrolling the skies by the thousands, the innocent civilians and captured leaguers could only watch in devastating horror as Darkseid mercilessly beat down The Man of Steel. It was quiet, there were no cars beeping, no people screaming or shouting… nothing. Nothing to distract anyone from listening to the crackling sounds of fire burring down multiple buildings and Darkseid's fist hammering away at Superman's flesh. Most of the leaguers couldn't stand to watch the beating while others were being electrocuted for their pitiful attempts to help.

Superman clenched his jaw as he struggled mightily to free himself from the powerful mechanical restraints that bound his wrists together behind his back. Darkseid smirked as he lifted Superman higher into the air with his left hand. "I expected a better fight from you Kal-El… but then again, you were never a match for me." Darkseid continued to repeatedly punch Superman in the kidneys with his right hand until Superman couldn't help but to profusely cough up his own blood.

Everyone could feel the powerful shockwaves that resonated from the impact that Darkseid's knuckles made with Superman's body. Each devastating hit came with more force than the one that preceded it. Superman gritted his teeth, forcing himself to mask the pain by glaring straight into Darkseid's eyes. He refused to give Darkseid the satisfaction of seeing him in agonizing pain. Of course, his failure to contain the grunts that escaped his mouth after each and every strike he took didn't help. After seeing enough blood drip off of Superman's face, Darkseid threw him into a nearby office building in one quick motion. The building immediately exploded as large chunks of concrete and steel went flying through the air. The top half of the building collapsed instantly, turning into nothing but a pile of rubble on top of Superman. Feeling somewhat satisfied with the amount of torture he placed on Superman, Darkseid hovered over to the wreckage with a grin across his face. He blasted away all the debris that covered Superman's beaten and battered body with a simple wave of his hand before motioning for his minions to collect what was left of the Kryptonian.

"You jackass! You won't get away with this!" Flash yelled out as he watched Darkseid cross his arms over his chest, allowing his minions to drag Superman back to where the rest of the leaguers were. The sounds of Superman's body scrapping against the ground and the sight of seeing the long trails of blood following his motionless body demoralized everyone. It marked the defeat of The Justice League and destroyed any bit of hope the world had left in believing that they could still win this war.

"The probability of the destruction of the planet called Earth and the defeat of Kal-El is absolute." Darkseid turned around and hovered back to the rest of the founding members. He stopped just inches away from Superman with a triumphant smirk planted on his face. Superman refused to stay down as he struggled to get up onto his knees before Darkseid brutally kicked him in the face, making him fall backwards with more blood flying out of his mouth. "I will say it one more time…" Darkseid glared at each of the captured leaguers. "Where are Batman and Wonder Woman?"

"Why does it matter?" Green Lantern bitterly spat out.

Annoyed by his remarks, Darkseid quickly blasted Green Lantern with an energy beam. As he painfully fell down onto the ground, Parademons started electrocuting him with their knife-edged spears.

"JOHN!" Shayera screamed out as she began to move towards him. A Parademon immediately swung the flat side of its spear, smashing it into her face and sending her back onto the floor before a few more Parademons began electrocuting her as well. Both John and Shayera squirmed in excruciating pain as Flash and J'onn angrily glared at Darkseid.

"They are cowards… hiding among the weak and pathetic. Would rather leave you all for dead…" Darkseid said as he watched Superman struggling to get off of the floor.

"They're just late as usual…" Flash said sarcastically as he defiantly glared back at Darkseid.

Darkseid motioned towards John and Shayera. "It ends when you tell me where they are."

Without any hint of being intimidated, Flash shrugged his shoulders. "You didn't hear? The batmobile lost its wheel… The Joker got away…"

"Imbecile…" In annoyance, Darkseid nodded his head as Parademons started electrocuting Flash. Turning his attention to J'onn, Darkseid threw one of their own com links at him before pointing to the others. "Call them now or watch them die."

J'onn's eyes narrowed. "What's the point? You're going to kill us all even if we do what you say."

Darkseid held his hand up, stopping his minions from torturing the leaguers. "Call for them now, and I will make your death swift and painless."

"You do realize that you're talking about Batman right?" Green Lantern slowly got back up onto his knees.

"Even if we do call for him... he won't come running." Shayera managed to say as blood continued to run freely down her face.

"Yea… who do you think we are? Wonder Woman?" Flash spat out. He saw the rest of his teammates glare at him as he quickly realized his mistake.

Darkseid chuckled to himself. "So Batman has a soft spot for The Amazon Warrior… how pathetic, but a weakness I shall exploit nevertheless." Darkseid turned his attention back to J'onn "Call the Amazon now."

"What's the matter? Can't find them yourself? How pathetic." Superman got to his knees and spat a mixture of blood and spit at Darkseid.

Darkseid looked down at the blood stained spit on his chest before holding his hand out. "For your arrogance and stupidity Kal-El… I will enjoy watching you witness the entire world die by my hands. You will watch as I decimate whatever little pathetic force the people of Earth send to try and stop me with. You will watch as I annihilate the human race from existence. You will watch as each of your so called Justice League members die a slow and agonizing death… Only when you are the last remaining soul left on this planet… will I obliterate this world from its existence and have you live the rest of your miserable pathetic life within the confines of my red sun lit dungeon on Apokolips."

A blue energy sphere appeared and surrounded Darkseid's entire hand. After a bright flash, his gauntlet was completely covered with kryptonite. He smirked before brutally punching Superman across the face, fracturing his left cheek bone and jaw while completely shattering the kryptonite laced glove. The impact felt as if an enormously powerful bomb just blew up in front of Superman's face. The shockwaves sent everyone falling back and covering themselves from the thousands of tiny shards of kryptonite that rained upon them. Satisfied to see Superman lying motionless on the floor with bits and pieces of kryptonite stuck to his face, Darkseid motioned for his minions to throw all of them into the special cell in the center of the courtyard. The cell barriers were made up of transparent force fields that would electrocute anyone who would touch it. Each one of them felt the excruciating pain that the walls were capable of producing as their bodies slammed into the barriers when they were thrown into the cell. Before flying back to his personal ship, Darkseid ordered his minions to place the rest of The Justice League into the cellblocks in the prison ship.

The restraints that bound the founding members' ankles together made it very difficult to move, but all of them slowly managed to get onto their knees to help remove the kryptonite from Superman. They placed it as far away from him as possible, at the other side of the cell. Fortunately Superman was still conscious but didn't have the energy or strength to sit up. Even the rays of the yellow sun couldn't adequately heal Superman from the extensive amount of damage his body took from Darkseid.

"Are you alright?" Green Lantern asked as he saw the giant bruise on Superman's face.

"That wasn't as painful as it looked… my ribs hurt more than my jaw…" The pain in Superman's ribs made it hard for him to talk – let alone breathe. "But I'll live… kryptonite is too close… for me to regain any strength…"

"So what's the plan?" Flash looked around to see the Parademons escorting the other Justice League members into several prisoner transport ships.

"We… we… wait…" Superman managed to say as he finally sat up with the help of J'onn and John.

"We what?" Flash quickly snapped back around to look at Superman in surprise.

"We wait for Batman and Wonder Woman." Shayera sighed as she nodded in agreement.

"But if the whole league couldn't take down Darkseid, what makes you think that Bats and Diana can? We need to find a way out of this and help." Flash protested as he started banging the restraints against the ground.

"We'll be fine Flash… I have faith that Batman and Wonder Woman will rescue us and find a way to stop Darkseid." J'onn said while trying to calm Flash down.

Shayera's face lit up with hope. "Wait… Can't you use your telepathy to contact Batman and Diana?"

J'onn shook his head to the disappointment of everyone in the cell. "No… I believe these restraints are somehow denying us the use of our powers and abilities."

Superman took a deep breath, trying to block out the intense pain surging through his body. "Don't forget… Batman is the most dangerous man in the world… This isn't over… Not as long as he's still alive and running loose somewhere out there."

"Yea… if I had to pick one person to save my life, it's definitely him." Green Lantern looked back at Superman. "No offense."

Superman couldn't help but laugh, even though it hurt like hell. "None taken. There's no one else… I trust more… to do the same either."

"What are YOU doing here?" Diana's eyes narrowed as she glared at her. The woman was standing across the cave at the main computer with several others, but it didn't matter who they were or how they manage to get here safely right now. The tension in the cave grew to exponential proportions as everyone watched the two women stare each other down. Batman ignored it as he immediately sat down in his chair next to Oracle and went to work on the computer. Oracle quickly told him how all the members of The Birds of Prey managed to safely get to the cave after the invasion broke out. Then Black Canary and The Huntress went and smuggled her from her apartment to the cave undetected by the Parademons while Lady Blackhawk, Hawk, and Dove stayed to make sure that Wayne Manor remained secured. After bein"g updated on the situation, Batman typed in the commands to place Wayne Manor on lockdown and had Alfred stay in the cave for precautionary reasons.

"Lets see... monstrous creatures appear out of nowhere, start wrecking havoc all over the place, capture all the good guys in the process... and their leader just declared that he's going to destroy the world. Is there any other place safer than this?" Catwoman smirked as she watched Diana glare intensely at her. "It's nice to see that you're still threatened by me... and here I thought that Bruce was the paranoid one."

"It's not paranoia. I know you can't keep your hands off of him." Diana crossed her arms over her chest as she continued to glare at Selina. Playing these mind games with Selina was more about pride than anything else. Diana knew Selina was true to her word about fighting for justice. On the rare occasions she did team up with the batclan, Diana even expected her to do the right thing when it was called for. Of course it was Bruce's trust in Selina that had more to do with her acceptance of Catwoman than anything she did. It was because of Bruce's undying love for her and the deep connection they shared that made Diana truly believe that under no circumstances would Bruce ever hurt her – especially when both Hera and Aphrodite made them physically and emotionally inseparable from each other. Diana trusted Bruce with her life, heart, and soul, just like he trusted her with his. It was just that Selina couldn't resist touching him, and it was extremely annoying to say the least. If Selina ever showed up one day when Diana needed a sparing partner and accidentally somehow broke both of her arms in the process, Diana wouldn't lose any sleep over it.

"Neither can you." Even though Selina still had a thing for Bruce, she knew Bruce's heart belonged to Diana whether she liked it or not. Selina accepted Bruce's relationship with Diana and understood how much she means to him. Diana found a way to bring true happiness into Bruce's life and Selina didn't want to take that away from him. The last thing she wanted to do was to destroy the level of trust he placed on her. After all, Bruce is, was, and always will be one of her closest friends. And as a loyal friend, Selina swore to pounce on any opportunity and do whatever it took to make Diana pay if she did anything to hurt Bruce. But placing loyalties, friendships, and trust aside, even she couldn't resist messing with the Amazon's head. Selina had more self-control when it came to flirting with Bruce than she showed, but would flirt anyways only because of how much it pissed Diana off… of course she had to make sure not to go too far and have Diana break her in half. Selina knew that she was not only playing with fire, but she also soaked her matches in gasoline.

"He's mine, not yours." Diana said coldly.

Selina chuckled to herself before taking a quick glance at Bruce. "A little possessive aren't we? Sorry I'm not a spoiled little princess that always gets her way."

"If I always got my way, you wouldn't be standing here." A smirk formed on Diana's face as the image of her folding Selina into a pretzel entered her mind.

"We don't always get what we want, now do we?" Selina was somewhat disappointed that she didn't get under Diana's skin as much as she liked, but relieved to know she wasn't about to rip her head off.

"Likewise" Diana said with a triumphant smile as she saw Bruce get up to stand beside her.

"Enough. We have more important things to deal with." Bruce moved in front of Diana to stand between the two.

"She started it." Selina crossed her arms as she looked at him defiantly.

"I'm ending it." Bruce growled, knowing he didn't have time for this. "This is MY cave… you're in here, you do as I say."

Selina shook her head as she flirtatiously smiled at Bruce. "Good to know that not all the rumors about you being so pathetically and utterly whipped by her are true." She watched both Bruce and Diana glare at her while the others in the cave held in their chuckles. They all knew that the power struggle between the two was pretty much even, but the fact that Batman would always instinctively throw his own body in harms way to save Wonder Woman made it easy to think otherwise. For some strange reason, Wonder Woman throwing herself into danger to save Batman's life didn't have the same affect. It also didn't help Batman's case when Wonder Woman got him to do the things that he normally wouldn't be caught dead doing… of course, those who knew about those particular facts were in very small circles. Selina smiled back at Bruce as she elbowed Helena in the arm. "Helena was right… the both of you are way too over protective of each other."

Helena's eyes widened in shock as she saw Diana's stone cold glare turn towards her. "I didn't say that! I swear!" She held up her hands before glaring at Selina as Dinah started laughing.

"Of course it's true, but it sure as hell beats the alternative." Nightwing came jogging down the stairs from the mansion with a smirk on his face. "The old man would totally lose it if anything happened to mommy dearest." Diana couldn't help but crack a smile, knowing how true her adoptive son's joke really was. Seeing that the tension in the cave had finally dissipated, Bruce ignored everyone and went back to work.

"DICK!" Barbra shouted in relief that her husband was safe. Dick quickly ran up and hugged her before kissing her on the forehead.

The rest of the batclan listened to Nightwing as he told them about how he managed to get to the cave safely. After catching up with them, Nightwing walked up to Batman at the computer while wiping the sweat off of his forehead with the back of his hand. "I'm fine by the way, thanks for caring."

Batman continued to type without taking his eyes off of the screen. "The idea of you failing to escape capture never crossed my mind."

Nightwing chuckled to himself as he rolled his eyes. "It's always nice to know that you have such high expectations when it comes to my abilities."

Batman smirked as he stopped typing for a second. "I am however, disappointed that it took you this long to get here."

"Yea… well… would it kill you to put the house on lockdown AFTER I get inside next time?" Nightwing placed his hands on his knees, pretending to catch his breath.

Batman turned his chair to face him. "Again… if I didn't expect you to have the knowledge and ability bypass my systems, I wouldn't have turned them on."

Nightwing laughed. "Yea I'm awesome aren't I?"

Bringing himself back to more seriously important matters, Batman stood up and motioned for Oracle to continue working on the computer as he addressed the others. "From what I've gathered so far, Darkseid's forces have completely taken over the embassy and…"

Suddenly everyone heard what sounded like J'onn's voice with some static interference through their com links. "To all… available Justice League… units… we need to… regroup… be advised to take… every precaution… necessary to stay hidden… then contact me immediately…"

Batman narrowed his eyes as he began to analyze the message while Diana's lit up with hope. She quickly tapped her earpiece. "J'onn! This is Diana! Where…"

"NO! WAIT!" Batman immediately ripped the earpiece from her ear but it was too late… much too late.

* * *

**A/N:** Yes I know this chapter has quite a bit of background stuff going on, but I thought it was necessary. I tried to make Darkseid as powerful as I thought he needed to be while giving him a legitimately plausible advantage over the Justice League.

Just incase it isn't entirely clear, this whole story pretty much revolves around the fact that Darkseid possesses the Anti-Life Equation and what it actually is. Since the animators never did clarify what it is, I've decided to make it up myself and will reveal what I believe it to be later on in the story.

I couldn't help but to throw Selina in there. I felt like having a certain level of mutual respect between Diana and Selina. Of course there will always be that awkward sense of tension between those two in any story involving this trio. As always, let me know your thoughts and thanks for reading!


	5. Bringing the House Down

**A/N: **Hi guys! Thanks for the reviews and support. I haven't really thought about going deeper into the Justice League's roster, but if there's a hero or two that you would like to see, I'll throw in a cameo appearance here and there. There's nothing but action in this chapter, so I hope it's to your liking!

* * *

**Bringing the House Down**

Eyes widened and jaw dropped in shock, Diana stared at Batman as he crushed the com link with his foot. "What's the matter with you?"

Ignoring Wonder Woman, Batman quickly turned towards Oracle and Alfred while pointing to one of the batboats floating in the water across the cave. "Get to the boats NOW!" Confusion ran through the minds of everyone in the cave. "Everyone get out NOW!" Batman immediately ran back to the computer, typing in several commands.

"Br… Bruce… you're scaring us… what's wrong?" Dinah watched Batman begin downloading the computer's information onto a hard drive while activating the cave's own internal defensive systems.

"They'll eventually get through the cave's Sionis Steel reinforcements, and the outer defensive systems won't hold them off for very long!" Batman shouted out just as the cave's walls started to shake violently. It felt as if a massive earthquake was taking place with the fault line running straight through the middle of the cave. "Nightwing! Get Oracle and Alfred to the boat! That's an order!"

Nightwing quickly grabbed onto Oracle's wheelchair and rolled her towards the boats with Alfred running close behind. Everyone could hear Batman's defensive turrets firing at the invading Parademons as the sounds of destruction and explosions became increasingly louder. The vibrations were so great that parts of the cave's ceiling broke off and came crashing down onto the floor.

"Batman!" Diana watched the Parademons blast their way into the cave. It seemed like hundreds immediately appeared, swarming around them within seconds. The rest of the batclan stayed near Batman as he still needed to download a few more important pieces of information.

Batman looked up at uploading status bar. "_Damn it! Thirty more seconds…_" With his patience wearing thin, Batman clenched his fists as he saw that his team had formed a defensive perimeter around him. "What are you all still doing here?! Get out now, I can handle this myself."

"Not a chance!" Diana yelled out as she kicked a Parademon in the head before taking its spear to stab another in the chest. "I don't care what you say. I'm not leaving without you!" She launched the spear into the forehead of another demon that was about to tackle Batman. It zipped just inches away from his head as he quickly glanced at the demon, now pinned to the wall before looking back at Diana to see that a smirk had appeared on her face. "And don't you dare start with me!" His eyes narrowed before returning the favor as he quickly threw a bat-a-rang just past her left ear, hitting a Parademon in the face and knocking it out. Diana's eyes widened as she looked down at the unconscious Parademon lying next to her feet. Diana couldn't help but to shake her head and smile back when she saw Bruce's smirking face.

As Wonder Woman fought off multiple Parademons, she couldn't help but to keep an eye on everyone else. Of course keeping an eye on Batman was more of a natural instinct than anything else – even against his orders. He knew she always kept an eye on him just like she knew he did the same with her, although he refuses to admit it. The rule was to focus on the opposing enemies, not her allies. That worrying about them would distract her from noticing a particular detail… which could possibly be the deciding factor in winning or losing a fight, or be that one important clue that solves the entire puzzle. To Diana, the rule only applied to Batman's primary unit. As much as Diana wanted to believe that The Birds of Prey were on par with Nightwing, Robin, and Batgirl, the cold hard truth was that they just weren't as good as them – no team was. The chemistry, timing, and precision of Batgirl, Robin, and Nightwing put them on an entirely different level than any other unit. However, both Batman and Wonder Woman trusted The Birds more than any other unit The Justice League could assemble outside of the original seven to get the job done. Diana swore that Batman would even put The Birds ahead of the original seven just because they did things his way.

"Damn it B! I figured someone as rich as you could get a FASTER computer!" Black Canary dodged a flying Parademon as she jumped into the air and unleashed her sonic scream, knocking out dozens of Darkseid's flying minions at once. Unfortunately the shockwaves of her screams hit the walls of the cave, damaging them further and causing them to crumble to the floor.

"If you wish for us to live through this, please don't do that again!" Dove jumped onto his brother's shoulders before leaping onto the back of a Parademon and forcing it to crash into several others.

Hawk rammed into a pack of demons like a tank while grabbing onto one by the legs and using it like a baseball bat. "What are you talking about? We live for this!" Hawk threw the Parademon into a group closing in on Batman, knocking them down like a bunch of bowling pins. "This is too much fun!" He pumped his fist in the air before continuing to protect the computer's mainframe.

"Shut up and get to the boat! Batman's done!" Catwoman swung down and kicked a Parademon in the back of the head before scratching out the eyes of another.

Lady Blackhawk jumped into the adjacent batboat after helping Nightwing secure Oracle and Alfred into the first one. Checking the gauges, she fired up the engine as she waited for her teammates to get onboard. "All systems go! Ready to roll!"

"Heads up! They're using those restraints again!" The Huntress jumped over a Parademon just before a pair of restraints was about to latch onto her. It bound the now helpless Parademon's wrists and ankles together, sending it to the floor without any chance of escape.

"_We got thirty seconds before the computer explodes… we should be out by twenty…_" Batman placed a bomb underneath the console while putting the hard drive in his belt. Suddenly a giant section of the cave's ceiling collapsed as the second wave of Parademons poured in. Batman threw out a handful of smoke bombs to provide as much cover as possible for his team while grabbing Wonder Woman's hand and heading for the boats. "Get to the boats NOW!"

"DAMN IT!" Dove fell to the ground as a set of restraints latched onto him.

"DOVE!" Hawk avoided another pair of restraints as he quickly knocked out two more Parademons with fatal strikes to their heads.

Catwoman picked up Dove as she snapped her whip into the eyes of an oncoming demon. "I got him! Keep moving!"

"You guys are cutting this really close!" Lady Blackhawk activated the boat's automated gunning systems to help Nightwing, The Huntress, and Black Canary defend the two ships from further attacks.

"Hawk's down!" Black Canary yelled as she chopped a Parademon in the throat before kicking another in the face.

The Huntress dodged another set of restraints as she jumped over a demon and twisted it around, using it as a shield against two oncoming spears. "Make a path, I'll get him!" She immediately took off towards Hawk after Black Canary used her sonic scream to clear the way.

Nightwing's eyes narrowed when he saw that Catwoman was unable to avoid several pairs of restraints as she was carrying Dove. Leaving anyone behind was unacceptable. "I'm going back for them!" Nightwing jumped out of the boat and threw an explosive wing-ding at a pack of Parademons.

Oracle grabbed Nightwing's arm. "What are you doing! We're getting overrun!"

Nightwing turned and cupped her cheek with his right hand. "I've got to help them. Don't worry, it's just a simple smash and grab job." Smirking, he winked at her before entering the war zone. Taking out his escrima sticks, Nightwing took down several Parademons in one fluid motion. It always amazed Oracle to watch Nightwing in action. His free flowing form of fighting definitely gave him much more style points than Batman's brutally lethal form.

Oracle analyzed the war zone as she noticed that the cave's main entrance was about to fall down. "Batman! All the cave's turrets are down! They're going to break through the main door!"

"_Damn it! If they break down that door, there'll be too many of them…_" Batman took off into the air before throwing several explosive bat-a-rangs at the oncoming demons. "Wonder Woman! Get Catwoman and Dove, I'll go for Huntress and Hawk. Nightwing, Canary… cover us!"

Wonder Woman quickly flew to Catwoman and Hawk. Picking the both of them up, she headed straight for the boats while Black Canary covered her with a barrage of sonic screams that made the entire back half of the cave collapse. Fortunately it wiped out half of the swarming Parademons in the process.

Nightwing threw out dozens of smoke bombs while hitting as many Parademons in the face with explosive wing-dings. "Hurry Batman! We can't hold them off much longer!"

Just as both Batman and Wonder Woman were about to reach to the boats, the main entrance's giant door exploded as more Parademons flooded the cave by the hundreds. The giant Sionis Steel door came straight at Batman and Wonder Woman, forcing them to quickly throw The Huntress, Catwoman, Hawk, and Dove over to Nightwing and Black Canary just before the door hammered them into the wall. The bomb's timer reached zero as the computer mainframe exploded, causing another section of the cave to crumble down to the floor and taking out another significant chunk of the Parademon force with it.

"_Damn it! We should have left ten seconds ago._" Batman watched Wonder Woman lift the giant door off of them and throw it at the dozens of Parademons attacking Nightwing, Black Canary, and The Huntress.

"There's too many of them! They're going to destroy the ships!" Lady Blackhawk switched the boat's automated gunning system to manual mode as she began shooting down the more dangerous demons around them.

Batman took out a flash bang bat-a-rang and switched on the shades within his screened eyes so that the flash wouldn't affect him. "Flash bang now!" Everyone instantly shielded their eyes as a blinding bright white light lit up the cave, causing the thousands of Parademons to crash into each other and everything else. "The boats! MOVE!" While the light illuminated the cave, Batman grabbed Wonder Woman's hand before flying towards the first of the two batboats. Black Canary and The Huntress quickly threw Catwoman in the second batboat while Nightwing was close behind, carrying Hawk and Dove in each arm.

"NIGHTWING!" Oracle shouted as her eyes widened in horror. The combined weight of Hawk and Dove slowed him down just enough to have one of the many restraints flying through the air take him down.

The Huntress looked back to see him, Hawk, and Dove helplessly lying on the floor. "Canary! Grab them!"

"On it!" Black Canary was about to jump back out when Nightwing cut her off.

"NO! Go now! Leave us!" Nightwing rolled over to face her. Black Canary hesitated as she saw the Parademons electrocute Nightwing with their spears.

"Yes! Please! Go now!" Dove shouted just as two Parademons began electrocuting him as well. The Huntress and Black Canary looked at each other and nodded in agreement to get back to the boat before it was too late.

Batman narrowed his eyes as he decisively sealed the cockpit shut before taking off and transforming the boat into a submarine. Lady Blackhawk switched the boat's defensive turrets back to automatic as she tried to take off after The Huntress and Black Canary jumped in. Wonder Woman and Oracle watched in horror as the second boat was being dismantled by the Parademons. They had already gotten to the engine before making their way to the cockpit. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" The two women simultaneously shouted at Batman as he refused to turn around to help. They watched Black Canary, The Huntress, and Lady Blackhawk fail to fend off the swarming minions as the three of them were finally brought down by those powerful restraints.

Oracle grabbed Batman from behind. "You can't leave them! You can't!"

"Quiet! We don't have a choice. It's them or all of us." Batman spat out as his grip on the controls tightened, cracking them in the process.

"Bruce! Turn back NOW! I won't allow you to leave them!" Diana was about to grab the controls and turn the boat around when Alfred's voice stopped her.

"I agree with Master Bruce on his decision to follow Master Dick's wishes to be left behind. As much as it pains me to see Master Dick and the others in such an unfortunate situation, his logic is clearly in the right place. Please Mistress Diana, Madam Barbra… don't take your anger and frustrations out on Master Bruce." Alfred placed his hand on Barbra's shoulder as she released her grip on Batman and leaned back with her eyes closed shut.

Barbra looked up through the canopy's window and into the ocean that was now above her. "Damn it Dick…"

Diana took a deep breath as she realized that Alfred was right. Their sacrifice would be all for nothing if they were captured as well, but that didn't make leaving them behind any easier. In a nonverbal form of an apology, she slowly reached for Bruce's hand and squeezed it. "It… it's all my fault… I shouldn't have responded to the distress call so brainlessly..."

Batman firmly squeezed back. "We'll get them back."

Diana looked away from him, shaking her head in guilt. "But…"

Batman quickly released his grip on her hand and turned her face back towards him so that her pearly blue eyes stared straight into his white lenses. "We WILL get them back Diana. Darkseid won't win. I won't let him."

Diana nodded as she reached for Batman's hand with the both of hers. After soaking in the feeling of his hand on her cheek, she brought his hand down onto her lap while continuing to hold onto it. "What do we do now?"

"Arkham" Batman stated flatly.

* * *

**A/N:** Thanks for reading! All reviews are greatly appreciated so please let me know what you think!


	6. The Home Away From Home

**A/N:** Hi guys! I thought I'd write this up before the holidays. This chapter slows down a bit to catch us up with what is going on with the invasion.

For those of you who guessed it, you were right! I got the idea from the video game: Batman Arkham Asylum. If you guys haven't played that or the newer one: Batman Arkham City, I definitely recommend them. They go in to great depth of the Batman universe.

I really appreciate the support, and thanks for reading!

* * *

**The Home Away From Home**

"Arkham? What's at Arkham?" Diana raised her eyebrow in confusion.

Regaining her composure and refocusing on the important task at hand, Barbra shook her head. "His little home away from home." Looking back at Alfred, she couldn't help but crack a small smile despite everything that had just occurred. "You'll love it there… there's way too much to clean."

Alfred rolled his eyes. "I wouldn't expect anything less from Master Bruce."

Quickly deciphering the meaning behind Barbra's joke, Diana glared at Bruce. "You have a cave on Arkham Island… and you didn't tell me because?"

Batman continued to stare straight ahead as he piloted the ship. "I've only used it a few times when things got a little chaotic on the island. There's not much there, but enough to be a secondary base when needed…"

"Don't feel so bad Di… he didn't tell me about that cave until Joker took over the island a while back." Barbra scratched her head. "I just hope the computer over there isn't too outdated. That thing hasn't been used in years."

Batman released his right hand from Diana's grasp and held up the hard drive so that Barbra could see it. "That's what this is for."

Diana took the hard drive from Batman and looked at it. "You uploaded all of the main computer's information onto this?"

Batman smirked. "That… and all the information within Darkseid's data base."

"How did you manage to do that?" Barbra dropped her jaw in surprise.

Batman chuckled. "It's me remember?"

"Right… I almost forgot who I was talking to." Barbra mockingly smacked herself on the forehead.

"But how did you get all that? Where did the information come from?" Diana switched her sights from the hard drive to Batman.

Batman glanced over to see a confused look on Diana's face. "Since you had already revealed our location when you connected onto the embassy's network with your com link, I accessed the league's mainframe and downloaded everything."

Diana looked back down at the hard drive. "But… your computers already have everything that the league's computers have."

"Yes… but since Darkseid integrated his network with the league's to take complete control over their defensive and weapons operating systems, I was able to gain access to his network and get everything from his data base." Batman guided the ship into a hidden passage way under Arkham Island.

Barbra tapped Diana on the shoulder to pass the hard drive to her. "Nice… but what about Brainiac? Doesn't he infect every network he touches?"

"Way ahead of you." Batman pressed a button as the ship began to resurface. "That's why it took forever to download, and forced me to blow up the main computer."

Barbra grinned as she nodded. "Ah… I get it. Get a clean copy of Darkseid's information while making it look like it was all for nothing by blowing up the computer."

"Exactly" Batman smirked.

Diana opened the canopy while watching Batman shutdown the boat. "But how can you be sure that it's really a clean copy?"

"That's what Oracle's for." Batman helped Barbra and Alfred out of the boat and onto the cave's Sionis Steel platform. He quickly turned back to the pitch black cave. "Scan"

A light sensor appeared out of nowhere as it scanned Batman's body. "WELCOME BATMAN… DEFENSIVE SYSTEMS DISABLED"

"Lights on" Batman carried Oracle to the only chair at the main computer in the center of the cave as both Alfred and Diana followed.

Diana saw Alfred shake his head in disappointment as he began cleaning up the cave. Saying that it's a mess was an understatement… completely covered in thick layers of dust, the cave looked as if it had been abandoned for years. It made her wonder if this is what the primary cave would look like if Bruce didn't have Alfred there to clean it. The workstations were suspended by Sionis Steel platforms bolted to the cave's ceiling. Diana looked down and roughly estimated that the actual bottom of the cave was about one, maybe two miles deep. Many giant plantlike roots had grown and wrapped themselves around the platforms and the main computer. The way the roots now rested, it seemed as if they grew out of nowhere in an attempt to crush the cave and destroy everything in it. Diana looked over to the eastern platform and saw that it was completely torn apart by the roots while another set relocated what was left of the western platform to about twenty feet above it. As she walked around the main platform, she saw the cave's small armory half stocked with old and outdated gadgets. "_He definitely hasn't been here in a while._" Diana noticed that it was a very small base, even for his standards. There was no room for any batmobiles, or batcycles for that matter. The only vehicle in the cave was a miniature batjet that was covered in grime, dirt, and dust… not to mention the dings, dents, bullet holes, and missing panels. She definitely had her doubts about its ability to fly after being neglected after all these years.

"I'm surprised that this computer's still alive and kicking." Oracle chuckled as she analyzed the hard drive's contents. "Yes sir… it's clean. No traces of Brainiac whatsoever."

Batman crossed his arms over his chest. "Pull up anything and everything on his ships and weaponry. I want to know everything."

"You got it." Oracle opened multiple applications on the giant screen and began to work.

Diana walked back to the main computer and leaned against the back of Oracle's chair, looking at the cracked computer screen. "What's with the plant decorations?" It was pretty obvious who was behind the so-called decorations, but she decided that it was an easy way to join in on the conversation.

"Poison Ivy's plants took over the island at one point." Batman said without taking his eyes off of the screen.

"I see…" Diana looked up at the roots once more before returning her attention to the screen. "We should try to find any others who might have managed to avoid capture."

"No, we can't risk revealing our location to anyone." Batman stopped and turned towards Diana. He knew that choosing to remain hidden while others were still being hunted down didn't sit well with her. It also didn't help that the guilt of revealing their initial location back in the batcave was creeping back into her mind. Pulling off his cowl and placing his hands on her hips, Bruce turned Diana to face him and waited until she looked into his eyes. "We will get them back. All of them. Just let me think this through Princess…"

Taking in a deep breath, Diana nodded before wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him towards her just enough to rest her forehead against his. "You have two hours."

Diana was sitting on a metal crate as Alfred placed a tray of sandwiches on a bigger crate in front of her. "I'm going to kill him… I mean it. I'm going to strangle him." Diana glared at Batman as he continued his work on the computer. There were times when he wouldn't even allow Barbra near the computer as he stared into the screen for hours on end, looking as if he was about to lose his mind. Diana thought she would go insane for Bruce by just seeing him in such an immensely strenuous state. "It's been four days Alfred. FOUR!"

Alfred sat down next to Diana and looked at Bruce with her. "Mistress Diana… I know Master Bruce is doing everything he can." Alfred placed his hand on her shoulder, waiting for her to look back at him before continuing. "I have never seen him work so hard before." Diana saw the seriousness on Alfred's face. She never seen Alfred this worried over Bruce before. Bruce hadn't eaten or talked much since he started working, he just stood there thinking while typing on the computer every once in a while. The only time he would talk in length was when he was telling Oracle to bring information together on the screen or help make sure a plan logically made sense. Alfred sighed before looking back at Diana with a smirk. "And between you and I… that is saying something."

Diana couldn't help but smile back as she nodded. "I know Alfred… I know…" Diana took one of the sandwiches on the tray. "It's just so frustrating sitting here while the whole world is in ruins and having our friends being held against their will." She took a bite out of the sandwich. "These are delicious Alfred, thank you."

Alfred stood up and straightened his suit. "You are very welcome Mistress Diana. I would have served something other than just these the past few days… but as you know, the selection up there is very limited." He pointed up at the ceiling of the cave. During the last few days, Batman sent Diana up to the island's surface and into the asylum's cafeteria for food and drinks. He gave her a specific route that would avoid any possible detection so that she could get what was needed and return as quickly as possible. Oddly enough, no one ever thought about breaking into and looting the asylum's cafeteria – even after the parademons blew half of the asylum off of the face of the Earth.

Diana laughed as she picked up a cup of water to drink. "It's perfectly alright Alfred. I'd gladly eat the sandwiches you make over anything they serve in the embassy's cafeteria."

Alfred bowed to her in kind before turning back to look at Batman and Oracle. "Now if only someone could convince Master Bruce to eat something, my efforts would not have gone for naught."

Diana smiled as she picked up the tray of sandwiches. "I'll take care of that. Thank you Alfred."

"No, Mistress Diana. Thank you. You truly are the best thing to ever happen to him." Alfred smiled back before picking up a broom.

Diana blushed slightly before walking off to Bruce and Barbra. She placed the tray in front of Barbra while taking a sandwich and holding it in front of Bruce's mouth. "Are you going to eat this or am I going to have to feed you again?" Diana smirked as she tilted her head, waiting for his response. She watched him continue to think and stare at the screen while typing on the keyboard. His face was worn and tired as the bags under his eyes made their own shadows over his cheeks. Diana would have believed that it was impossible for anyone to go without sleep for this long if it wasn't for Bruce. Thank the Gods for the creation of caffeine. Then again… if Bruce wasn't drinking gallons of coffee everyday, he would be well rested and refreshed more often. Seeing that she wasn't getting a response from him, she took her free hand and scratched his stubby unshaven beard. Diana hummed as she kept tracing Bruce's jaw line with her fingertips while waving the sandwich in front of his face. Finally giving in to Diana's somehow highly effective distractions, Bruce opened his mouth to let her stuff it in as he took a bite. After feeding him three sandwiches, Diana grinned with great satisfaction. "See? Eating something once in a while isn't so bad."

Bruce glared at her as Barbra laughed while eating her sandwich. "Batman actually eats? Who knew?"

Ignoring the both of them again, Bruce took Diana's cup of water and drank it before getting back to work. Diana kissed him on the cheek before walking to the other side of the computer console. She opened a small window on the giant screen to watch the local news. The news reporter was shown with Darkseid's main ship hovering above The Justice League embassy in the background. "…reports have come in estimating that the death toll around the world has reached two billion people and it continues to climb at an alarming rate. It isn't entirely clear what Darkseid is waiting for after taking down The Justice League. It's been speculated that he plans to force them to watch as he slowly destroys the Earth. It is clear however, that Darkseid is going to make Superman and the other founding members suffer tremendously before finishing them off with the rest of the world."

Diana's eyes widened as the camera zoomed in to see Superman, The Martian Manhunter, Hawkgirl, Green Lantern, and the Flash trapped in the transparent force field cell. Anger started boiling through her veins as she watched several Parademons continuously torture them. Diana quickly turned up the volume when the reporter continued her report on the current status of Batman and Wonder Woman. "There are also several reports on the whereabouts of Batman and Wonder Woman, as both are still missing from the special prison cell that holds the rest of the founding members. Sources claimed to have seen the both of them die during the initial invasion and capture of The Justice League, while others continue to state that they heard Darkseid order his forces to continue the hunt for Batman and Wonder Woman… even if they are still alive, the possibility of just the two of them stopping Darkseid's forces appear to be nonexistent." Diana folded her arms over her chest as her eyes narrowed. Once Bruce perfects his plan, Darkseid was going to pay for his crimes – with interest.

The reporter continued as she motioned to the many dead bodies that littered the area. "Darkseid's forces have completely decimated all of the world's combined military and special forces with ease. After initially capturing The Justice League within the first two days of the invasion, the world's entire military army was annihilated in a matter of minutes… Even all of the world's notorious super criminals banded together to attempt to stop Darksied's forces, only to be brutally slaughtered. It has been believed that those forces have gotten off easy while the founding members of The Justice League haven't been as fortunate. So far, it's been Superman who has received the majority of Darkseid's wrath. For the fourth consecutive day, Darkseid and his minions have been seen brutally beating down Superman without any restraint or hesitation. As you can see from the footage we've gathered, Superman continues to be completely defenseless as the beatings have gotten more brutal as each day passes by. It remains to be seen how much more pain Superman can take before meeting his end. We can only pray that The Justice League can somehow find a way to save the world one more time…"

Diana slammed her fists into the console as her patience ran out, leaving only pure frustration and anger controlling her thoughts. "Damn it Bruce! It's been four days! And we haven't done anything to stop him!" She stormed up to Bruce and spun him around. Diana forced him to look into her eyes, which were intensely burning with anger. "NOTHING!"

"Patience Princess…" Batman said in a calmer, softer kind of voice than he would normally use when confronting a very pissed off Amazon.

"Don't patience Princess me! NOT this time!" Diana forcefully poked him in the chest with one hand before motioning to the entrance of the cave with the other. "Millions of people are dying out there! I can't stay hiding in here anymore Bruce! I can't!"

Bruce grabbed and held Diana by the waist with his left hand while cupping her cheek with his right. Diana initially resisted in anger as she pushed back against him, but finally allowed Bruce to bring her close to him as they stood inches apart. He traced her lips with his thumb while caressing her cheek as he spoke. "It's taken me a lot longer than I wanted or expected… but yes… I have a plan Princess…"

* * *

**A/N:** Like I said, not much action, so of course, I had to throw in a little bit of comic relief while still keeping the dark mood.

I was debating whether or not to go into greater detail about what Darkside is doing, or how the other members of the league were being captured. The war with the Parademons and Earth's notorious villains seemed like a great side story to write, but I like writing about Batman more so I skipped it.

I personally don't really like it when a story drags on so I wanted to make sure I wasn't doing that to you guys. But if you guys want me to, I'll write what happened within those 4 days as a deleted scene or something later on. Just let me know.

Thanks again for reading. Any and all reviews are always welcomed and greatly appreciated!


	7. Reinforcements

**A/N: **Hi guys! I didn't realize that I made it seem like Batman wanted Superman to suffer… or did I… hehe I'm just kidding, I promised some of you that the friendship between Batman and Superman will be epic! And I do plan on keeping my word on that.

Yes now I also see that Superman should technically be dead from the amount of Kryptonite surrounding him… whoops… oh well… he continues to live because it's my story and I say so!

Thanks again for all the support! I hope you guys this one.

* * *

**Reinforcements**

Batman turned back to the screen as he motioned for Barbra to bring up the blueprints of Darkseid's prison ship. "Everyone that Darkseid has captured outside of the founding members are located here." Batman pointed to the cellblocks on the screen. "I've highlighted the most efficient route to the control room. Since we don't have any actual footage of the corridors, I can't give you the precise timing of each patrolling Parademon's route, or how many of them there actually are. What I can tell you is that once you reach the control room, the access panel will be very easy to operate." Batman continued to break down every corner and potential cover spot in the ship for Wonder Woman. He went through each and every detail shown on the screen, making sure that she knew the exact location of all the cameras, motion sensors, and other security devices. Batman even outlined routes through the ship's ventilation ducts, just incase there were too many Parademons for her to slip past without detection.

"I don't understand why you're telling me all this…" Diana frowned as she looked back at Batman. "Why are you talking as if I'm doing this alone?"

Batman sighed as he took off his cowl to look her in the eyes. "Because you are going in alone…"

Diana instantly didn't like where this was headed. She looked back at Barbra to see her scratch her head uncomfortably while staring up at the ceiling of the cave. Diana crossed her arms over her chest as she tilted her head, glaring at Bruce. "And just what will you be doing exactly?"

Bruce stared right back at her without any hint of emotion… not that she expected him to reveal any. "Fighting Darkseid…" Bruce saw Diana's eyes instantly narrow in anger as he held his hand up, pleading to her to let him explain. "There's only two of us Princess… there is no other way. Believe me, I have spent the past four days trying to come up with something better, but there isn't. So we have to do it this way."

"NO! No way! Forget it!" Diana stormed up to Bruce and poked him in the chest, emphasizing her disapproval with his decision. "There's no way I'm allowing you to go on a suicide mission. Do you hear me!"

Bruce took in a deep breath as he grabbed onto both of Diana's hand with his, pulling her closer. "It's not a suicide mission Princess… I'm stalling until you complete yours." He knew Diana didn't buy that explanation for a second. "Listen… for us to win, to defeat Darkseid… it all depends on successfully completing your mission. If it was just simply breaking the league out of the cellblocks, I'd join you…" Diana started to look away in anger, but Bruce quickly placed his right index finger under her chin and gently turned her face back to his. "But it's not that simple Princess…"

"It never is" Diana spat out as she quickly knocked his hand away from her face and defiantly crossed her arms over her chest.

"Everything… everything rides on finding a way to disable those restraints." Batman slowly walked over to the keyboard and brought up the information about the special restraints on the screen. "Everyone that Darkseid has captured still has those restraints on… and you…" Bruce turned back to Diana and spoke in that voice. Not Batman's, nor Bruce Wayne's, but Bruce's… her Bruce. His voice. The voice that only her ears ever got to listen to when he told her his deepest darkest secrets, or on the rare occasions he's sharing and expressing his emotions with her. Diana immediately looked back into his eyes as that special sound harmoniously flowed into her ears. "…you Princess… you have to find a way to disable them." Bruce slowly walked up to Diana and held her by the waist. "I… The things I've been researching… my mind…" Bruce sighed again as he rested his forehead on hers. "You're going to have to trust me that this is the best way to do this without an actual restraint to work on. You Princess… you have to free everyone else and find a way to deactivate those restraints. You have to, and you will…"

Diana placed her hands on his chest as she looked up into his eyes. "But why? Why can't we go onto the ship together to find a way to disable them, and then go after Darkseid?"

"Because Darkseid integrated himself into the system… He'll know the instant the league is released and when a single restraint has been disarmed. I have to stall long enough for you to disarm as many restraints as you can to gather a large enough army to fight him." Bruce broke away from Diana as he stood tall, forcing her to regain her strength and refocus on the mission at hand.

Understanding what must be done, Diana took a deep breath and regained her composure. She walked back up to Bruce and kissed him passionately before placing his cowl over his face. "I'll do it. But as soon as I free them… I'm coming after you." Diana glared at Batman as she spoke in a very serious tone. "You're not sacrificing yourself. Not on my watch. I promise you that."

Batman smirked as he spoke in his usual Batman voice again. "I said I was going to fight him… I didn't say anything about losing."

Diana shook her head as she smirked back at him. "You better not lose… you arrogant bastard…"

"Aww… You were right Alfred, they really are cute together." Oracle grinned as she winked at a proudly smiling Alfred standing beside her. "Well now that we got all that sentimental stuff out of the way, can we get back to work?"

Diana couldn't help but blush as the smirk quickly vanished from Batman's face. He turned his attention back to the screen after directing a glare at Barbra. "Unfortunately these restraints also disrupt and nullify all of the powers the person wearing them has…"

Suddenly a set of restraints fell onto the countertop in front of Oracle, startling everyone in the cave except for Batman as he stared at the newly acquired device. "Then you better get to work Bruce." A deep, flat toned voice said from behind.

Barbra immediately spun around, dropping her jaw in shock while Diana's eyes widened in disbelief as she realized who tossed the mechanisms in front of them. Diana immediately jumped at the smaller of the two figures, hugging her as she grinned uncontrollably. "Zatanna! Thank Hera you're safe!"

"ACK! Good… to… see… you… too… Di…" Zatanna managed to squeak out as Diana's arms were crushing her.

Realizing what she was doing, Diana released Zatanna instantly while stepping back in embarrassment. "Sorry…"

Ghost shook his head while Zatanna straightened out her top hat and jacket before smiling back at Diana. "Missed me that much huh?"

Diana smiled back while Batman picked up the restraints, looking at them closely. "Took you long enough."

Ghost took off his mask as he picked up one of Alfred's sandwiches and took a bite. "I was busy… get over it."

Oracle couldn't help but grin as she blurted out "Yea! I'm sure they were busy alright!"

Zatanna blushed as Diana's face lit up. "How was the honeymoon?" Both Ghost and Batman rolled their eyes in annoyance. The world was on the verge of destruction and these three wanted to talk about relationships…

Zatanna had a giant grin cemented on her face as she transformed her wand into a cane before leaning on it. "The first three days were magical. But these past four days… not so much."

Barbra looked at Ghost while shaking her head. "I still can't believe that you got him to do it."

"Yea, who would've known that all you had to do was make one tiny little threat to convince him to ask you?" Diana nudged Zatanna with her elbow. "What if he called your bluff?"

A mischievous smirk appeared on Zatanna's face. "Who said I was bluffing? I could always use another pet rabbit for my magic shows."

"Oracle… If you're done socializing, find a way to disarm these." Batman barked out as he tossed half of them onto her lap.

"Ok… ok…" Barbra sighed as she turned around to analyze the restraints. "How did you both manage to get a set of restraints, avoid the Parademons, and get here anyways?"

"Nothing we couldn't handle…" Zatanna glanced at Ghost while chuckling to herself. "…with a little bit of magic of course!" Grinning, Zatanna turned her hand so that her palm was facing upwards as magical sparkles briefly illuminated the cave.

Diana raised her eyebrow in curiosity. "But how did you two know that this cave even existed?"

Zatanna scratched her head as she thought about it. "To tell you the truth… I honestly don't know."

Barbra looked at Zatanna awkwardly. "What do you mean you don't know?"

Zatanna shrugged her shoulders before tilting her head towards Ghost. "He just knows where to go… I'll never understand how he does it."

Ghost felt the eyes of all three of them staring at him, waiting for an answer. "Trade secrets" he said flatly before taking another bite of his sandwich.

Diana smirked as she folded her arms over her chest. "I'm still waiting for your infamous stealth training sessions."

Zatanna laughed. "Yea… you'd love to be able to sneak up on Bruce."

"No!" Diana face turned red as the smirk on her face instantly disappeared. "As an Amazon Warrior, I want to master every skill and form of combat."

Zatanna and Barbra looked at each other before turning back to Diana. While Diana's reason was a legitimately plausible one, they both didn't buy it as they simultaneously said "Uh huh…"

Barbra turned around to get back to work as Zatanna nudged Diana with her elbow. "Wonder Woman… sneaking around in the shadows… that doesn't sound like you at all."

"I represent truth and honor! I wouldn't lie!" Diana closed her eyes as she looked away, trying to hide her embarrassment.

Zatanna grinned as she whispered into Diana's ear. "Wouldn't you love to have Bruce completely unaware of your presence every single time you get the urge to jump him?"

Diana's eyes popped wide open as the thoughts of pouncing on a helpless Bruce repeatedly ran through her mind. "I… I… Shut up!" She whispered back as her face turned as red as a tomato.

Zatanna chuckled as she winked at Diana. "I thought so."

After working on the restraints for a few hours, Batman and Oracle finally managed to pick its lock and manufacture a key that would easily open them. Batman took a deep breath before gathering the team around him. "Alright… Darkseid is going to know the instant we free the leaguers or unlock the cells within the prison ship. Fortunately, it won't be a problem since we're going to do it simultaneously." Batman turned to the computer screen and brought up the prison ship's blueprints. "Ghost and Zatanna will enter the ship from here. There are several possible routes to the cellblock control panel…" Batman turned to Ghost. "The route you take, I leave to you."

"Here's the scrambler we've developed to disrupt and reverse the locking mechanisms of the restraints." Oracle turned to Ghost while handing him the device. "With the lack of time and resources, we could only make one. The range is limited, affecting only the restraints that are within a fifty foot radius… which will be more than enough when you make your way to the cellblock control panel." Oracle smacked herself in the forehead. "Oh… I almost forgot… The scrambler only has enough power for one shot, so make it count." She gave the key to the restraints to Zatanna. "If for whatever reason the scrambler doesn't work… you guys are going to have to do it manually."

"Great…" Zatanna said sarcastically as she looked at the key.

Batman broke down the rest of his plan to the team before heading to the armory to stock up on supplies with Ghost. Batman grabbed a spare utility belt and filled it with whatever was left. "Here… You're going to need this." He tossed the belt at Ghost.

Ghost caught it as he glared at Batman. "I don't need it."

Batman narrowed his eyes as he spoke in a low flat tone. "Insurance… Diana and I can only stall Darkseid for so long, and I'm not taking any chances… not that there's anyone better than you to get the job done."

"Just so you know... when one gives his team a mission briefing of this magnitude, he would usually tell them _everything_ the plans entails, including the ramifications and consequences that which it brings." Ghost began inspecting the contents of the belt knowing that there was obviously more to Batman's plan than what was said. Ghost didn't fully expect him to because he didn't need to. They both knew what was needed to be done.

Batman nodded. "Remember where everything is and how to use them?"

"Of course... I'm not an idiot." Ghost inspected a bat-a-rang before putting it back in the correct pouch.

Batman chuckled. "Depending on what one's definition of idiot is..."

"It doesn't matter. I'll fight alongside you no matter how idiotic you may seem." Ghost smirked as he strapped the utility belt around his waist before extending his hand towards Batman. "It's been an honor."

"Always" Batman smirked back as he shook Ghost's hand. "…and yes, I do have a few more favors I need you to do for me…"

* * *

**A/N: **I originally wrote out everything he planned, but then realized… what would be the fun in that? Also it seemed to be too choppy of a sequence to write. "First we do this… then that… then this…" I didn't like how it was going.

I hope you guys didn't mind me bringing in my character again. I initially had it with him and Diana doing all the work, but it seemed too mighty of them. The last thing Batman is supposed to be is this all super powerful being right?

Let me know what you think. Thanks for reading!


	8. The Dynamic Duo

**A/N: **Happy New Year! I hope everyone enjoyed the holidays.

So the execution of Batman's plan finally begins in this chapter! Thank you all for reading and the support!

* * *

**The Dynamic Duo**

"How does it feel Kal-El? To know that you alone are responsible for the total annihilation of this pathetic planet and the so-called heroes of the Earth?" Darkseid continued to taunt Superman while Parademons were repeatedly stabbing him with kryptonite infused knife-edged spears.

Green Lantern, Shayera, Flash, and J'onn could only helplessly watch as the blood of their leader flowed freely onto the floor. The electricity running through Superman's body began taking its toll. His suit's fabric started burning up, revealing the severe burn marks and flesh wounds that refused to close. The symbolic "S" on Superman's chest was completely burned off, along with the first few layers of his skin. His cape was completely torn off and used as a mat for Darkseid to wipe his feet before sitting on this throne in front of the embassy.

"Don't die Kal-El… I want you to watch as I torture everyone you hold dear until they beg for death." Darkseid smirked while watching Superman scream in agonizing pain as one of the Parademons stabbed him in the spine. "Maybe I should start with your family… Kara perhaps?"

"Touch her and I'll…" Superman managed to spit out before another excruciating shock of electricity ran through his body. He could feel the sharp blades cut through his flesh, only to be ripped out and leave gaping holes for more blood to escape his body. "I'll… KILL YOU!"

"You kill? Disregarding the fact that the possibility of you managing to put up a decent fight against me is next to none, when did the so-called Superman accept taking a life?" Darkseid couldn't help but grin with a great sense of satisfaction as he watched Superman lying on the floor completely covered in his own blood. "That doesn't sound like you Kal-El."

Breathing heavily and running dangerously low on energy to stay conscious, Superman glared at Darkseid. "For you… I'll make… an exception."

Darkseid motioned for his minions to cease their attack on Superman as he walked up to him. "Take note Kal-El… I have let your pitiful humans witness and broadcast this all over their miserable little planet so that they, along with your friends, know how you pathetically failed to protect them. They will know that the suffering they are about to endure is because of you, and you alone. You will watch as I torture every single one of them, one by one, until they beg for death. You will look into the eyes of every single one of them, and apologize for your arrogance. It will be then, and only then… will I, the merciful Lord Darkseid oblige and end their pathetic lives."

"You… you're… you're a dead man…" Superman grunted out, feeling the kryptonite eating at his flesh as a spearhead impaled his left kidney. That pain, combined with the extremely high amount of electricity now frying his vital organs, caused him to pass out.

"Pitiful" Darkseid smirked as he motioned for his minions to throw Superman back into the cell before heading back to his ship.

Flash, J'onn, Shayera, and Green Lantern made their way to Superman in the center of the cell. J'onn turned Superman over onto his back and analyzed the extent of his injuries. "Superman will survive… but the surrounding kryptonite within this cell and the physical damages that he's taken are beyond anything I can do to heal him, even if I had my powers... He needs time in the yellow sun's rays to heal him from these wounds… I believe nothing else will suffice."

"This is ridiculous! Darkseid has been torturing Superman everyday for the whole world to watch, and Bats and Wondy haven't done a thing about it!" Flash angrily slammed his restraints down onto the floor.

"Pipe down. You're not helping." Green Lantern barked out in annoyance.

"Batman will attack when he finds a way to defeat Darkseid." J'onn looked up at the prison ship before returning his attention to his fellow teammates. "It's only a matter of time before Batman arrives."

"Well… he better hurry, we're running out of people to save." Shayera angrily spat out as she watched many Parademons fly by.

"I know that Bats is all about strategies and stuff, but he's getting really close to pissing me off!" Flash sighed in clear frustration.

Regaining consciousness, Superman managed to sit up with the help of Green Lantern. "Relax… when… when it comes to save… saving the world… Batman doesn't… doesn't know how to fail."

"Let's go over it again." Batman stopped Wonder Woman as they stood within the shadows of the sewer system underneath the embassy courtyard.

Diana rolled her eyes as she turned to face Batman. "Do whatever we can to draw Darkseid and as many of his pathetic minions from the ships… mainly the prison ship. Then stall for as long as we can so that Ghost and Zatanna can free the rest of the league so we can finally kick Darkseid's ass."

Batman chuckled as he cupped her cheek with his right hand. "We stay together. Don't allow yourself to drift too far from me… If they separate us, they'll take us down. Simple divide and conquer strategy."

Diana smiled as she wrapped her arms around the back of his neck. "Nothing will ever make me lose you in my sights on the battle field."

Batman smirked as he placed his hands on her hips. "Focus on the mission Princess… not on me."

"I couldn't even if I wanted to… so you're just going to have to deal with it." Diana tilted her head as she waited for his reaction.

Batman shook his head. "And to think I spent all those years training you for nothing…"

"No… I remember everything you taught me. I just choose to ignore that one." Diana grinned.

Batman followed with a grin of his own. "So you CAN focus on the mission."

Diana pouted her lips. "You really are a manipulative bastard."

"I love you too." Batman said after chuckling again.

Diana moved in closer as she took her hands from behind his neck and rested them on his chest. Her smile grew wider as she watched her fingers trace his symbolic icon. Even in the darkness, the diamonds on her wedding ring seemed to shine brightly in her eyes. "I think I should put this back in my belt before I break it against someone's face."

A genuine smile appeared on Batman's face as he watched Diana slowly take her ring off and safely place it in the small compartment in her belt. Even without trying, Diana always had the power to make him smile – even when he didn't want to. Batman rested his forehead on hers and waited until she looked back into his eyes. "We're going to win."

"Damn straight" Diana pulled Batman in for a long passionate kiss before they headed up to the surface.

The instant they jumped out of the manhole, hundreds of Parademons swarmed around them. Working together as a cohesive unit, they countered every attack and flawlessly executed their own.

"We've got to cause a bigger scene to draw him out!" Batman grabbed an attacking Parademon's spear and stabbed another with it before throwing the both of them into a group of oncoming demons.

"Bigger? How's this?" After bashing in a Parademon's head, Wonder Woman lifted one of the embassy's giant pillars and spun it in a tornado-like motion before launching it into Darkseid's main ship.

"That'll do." Batman saw the explosion caused by the giant pillar out of the corner of his eye and immediately threw smoke bombs at Wonder Woman's feet to give her extra cover. With a knife-edged spear in his left hand, he sliced the neck of a Parademon to his left as his momentum allowed him to spin around and stab another through the forehead. "The prison ship!" Batman motioned towards the ship hovering over the far end of the courtyard.

Knowing exactly what he had in mind, Wonder Woman quickly darted back towards Batman with the extra cover he provided while striking as many Parademons within her range along the way. Batman placed several highly explosive bat-a-rangs on the spear while quickly calculating the velocity at which Wonder Woman was approaching him with. Batman timed his toss perfectly as Wonder Woman easily grabbed the spear, and with her momentum, launched it at the prison ship. The massive explosion created a giant hole on the side of the ship as hundreds more Parademons came pouring out of the newly made exit. Batman and Wonder Woman continued to swiftly and efficiently take down every attacking Parademon as the founding members watched in awe.

"It's about time… Were they always this good?" Flash watched Batman slam two Parademons' heads together before flipping over them to kick another in the face.

"Once she started living with him… yea." Shayera smirked as she saw Wonder Woman impale a Parademon in the chest with a spear before throwing it at another that was about to tackle Batman from behind.

"They're the best one-two punch in the league for a reason Flash." Green Lantern said as Batman threw three bat-a-rangs at three different Parademons that were surrounding Wonder Woman. Each one hit its target as the three Parademons stopped their attacks and tried to pull out the bat-a-rangs that were now embedded in their eyes. Wonder Woman quickly sliced open their stomachs with the knife-edged spear while avoiding two more Parademons attempting to take her down.

"I told you Batman and Wonder Woman wouldn't let us down…" Superman slowly turned over to watch two of his best friends continue to add to the already humongous pile of unconscious Parademons.

"I wonder what Batman has planned… they both can't keep this up, there's too many of them." J'onn eyes shifted from the entrance of Darkseid's main ship to Batman and Wonder Woman.

The giant doors swung open as Darkseid hovered out onto the courtyard to watch his last two remaining adversaries take on his minions. "So they finally decided to show their pathetic faces…" Darkseid motioned to one of his commanding Parademons. "Kill them."

Waves of Parademons from all over the world swarmed into the courtyard like an infestation. Thousands of Parademons continued to close in on the pair, forcing Batman and Wonder Woman back to back as they defended themselves. Darkseid's blood red eyes flashed as every single fallen Parademon was resurrected and jumped back into the assault.

"There's no way Bats and Wondy can take on all of them alone! What are they thinking?" Flash yelled as he spun towards Green Lantern in disbelief.

Green Lantern shook his head as he looked on. "I don't know… but this is insane. They're eventually going to tire out and lose."

"There's no way he spent four days coming up with just this right? He's never this stupid…" Shayera said without taking her eyes of Batman and Wonder Woman.

Grimacing in pain, Superman slowly laid back down to ease his discomfort. "He's not… Trust him… he knows what he's doing… even if it doesn't look like he does."

"We're getting overrun!" Wonder Woman sliced another Parademon in half before ramming the back end of her spear into the throat of another.

"I've noticed…" Batman dodged a spear aimed at his face as he took out several freezing bat-a-rangs and threw them at the ground before concealing Wonder Woman within his cape.

A giant glacier instantly formed within the courtyard, freezing all the attacking Parademons in place. With Batman's cape preventing them from being frozen, Batman dropped a few highly explosive bat-a-rangs covered in explosive gel on the floor before busting out of the massive block of ice with Wonder Woman. The two flew high into the sky as they looked down at the courtyard.

"This should buy us more time…" Batman detonated the gel as a devastating explosion sent half of the frozen Parademons flying out of the vicinity of the courtyard while the other half came raining back down in bits and pieces of raw flesh. Both Batman and Wonder Woman slowly floated back down before hovering inches above the newly created crater.

Darkseid smirked as he watched the two glare directly at him. "Impressive… but not nearly good enough." Darkseid's eyes flashed once more as all of the chunks of flesh regenerated into fully healed Parademons. "Now you will have the privilege of facing the true power of my army. They've been infused with Brainiac's technology, along with the most advanced weaponry in the universe… they can't be killed." His minions immediately began transforming into a bigger and stronger form. Two extra arms shot out of their shoulders as their golden armor turned into silver, more flexible ones.

Batman glanced at Wonder Woman after watching every Parademon transform into their more powerful state. "Or maybe not…"

* * *

**A/N: **I know some of you are waiting for Batman and Superman's friendship to reach its epic spotlight…please be patient! I have it in my head, nut I just need to put it on paper!

Pretty much there's going to be a lot of action the rest of the way. I hope you guys like Batman's plan. I think it will be a good way to end this story.

Again thanks so much for reading, and reviews are greatly appreciated!


	9. Jail Break

**A/N: **Hi guys! So this time I've decided to take the focus off of Batman and Wonder Woman for a little bit and show what is happening through other people's eyes. I know some of you guys are still waiting for Bruce and Clark's epic friendship to appear. I promise it's on its way. I've written most of that out, but I just making sure it doesn't get too corny… I hope this chapter suffices for now.

* * *

**Jail Break**

Two white doves lifted off from the office building across the street of the embassy courtyard. Out of the corner of their eyes, they watched Batman and Wonder Woman continue to fight off thousands of Brainiac enhanced Parademons that surrounded them. The two birds quickly entered the giant hole on the side of Darkseid's prison ship after another wave of Parademons stormed out of it. They carefully made their way behind a power terminal just as several patrolling Parademons marched past them. Luckily for the two intruders, the remaining patrolling Parademons stayed in their original forms. The two doves magically transformed back into their normal selves as they remained hidden within the shadows.

Zatanna straightened out her jacket and fixed her top hat as she waited for Ghost to finish stretching out his limbs. He hated being turned into animals… especially small puny ones that left him incapable of protecting himself. Oddly enough, it happens more often then anyone would think – not that he would ever admit it. Zatanna loved to get back at him by turning him into a little rabbit or puppy whenever he outsmarted her in their frequent flirtatious bantering. Ghost always had to check himself and make sure not to try to win too many of those… if he could actually call them wins after usually ending up being fed a carrot stick or two.

Ghost narrowed his eyes as he adjusted to the lack of light within the corridors of the ship. The pathways were dark and cold while the walls seemed to be made up of thousands of highly advanced circuitry that ran throughout the ship. Ghost quickly analyzed the locations of security cameras and defensive units before turning back to Zatanna and tapped his head with his finger. Zatanna nodded as she took out her wand and tapped both of their foreheads with it, magically linking their minds together.

After the spell finished, Zatanna placed her wand back into her pocket as she peeked her head out from behind the terminal. "_Why is everything red?_"

"_Darkseid's entire fleet is a giant network, we're basically in a giant computer. I believe every ship is lit with the light of a red sun just incase Superman ever decides to bash his way into one._" Ghost began to quietly remove a ventilation duct cover from the wall.

Zatanna smirked as she whipped out her wand and magically removed it for him. "_Isn't magic great?_"

Ghost glared at her. "_Lazy ass…_"

"_I HEARD THAT!_" Zatanna prodded him in the ribs with her wand as he crawled into the ventilation system.

Ghost mentally chuckled to himself. "_Heard what? I didn't SAY anything._"

"_Uh huh… I swear… every time I give you telepathy, it somehow makes you dumber._" Zatanna followed him until he stopped at another vent cover. Ghost quickly scanned the corridor before motioning to her to remove the cover. "_Oh… so NOW you want to use magic…Lazy ass!_" Zatanna smirked as she shook her head before easily removing the cover with her magical spell.

Even though she couldn't see it, she knew Ghost was smirking back at her when he nodded. Ghost turned back to look down at the corridor to see if anyone was patrolling by. "_Finally! Time for a little fun._"

Zatanna raised her eyebrow in confusion. "_What? What are you…_" Before she could finish, she watched him jump out of the duct and land directly behind the two patrolling Parademons without making a sound. He quickly and forcefully snapped the neck of the one on the left before grabbing its spear and completely slicing the other's head off. Ghost jumped back into the shadows of the corridor before motioning to Zatanna to come down. Zatanna made her way down and stood next to him as she looked at the two motionless bodies and severed head. "_Well obviously your definition of fun is something entirely different from mine…_"

He quickly looked around the corner to see if it was clear to move out. "_Why? What's yours? To turn them into ants or something…_" He turned to look at the two bodies on the floor. "_Now that I think about it… That's a good idea, go ahead and turn them into ants. We don't want the other patrolling minions to see two of their own lying on the floor, now do we?_"

Zatanna rolled her eyes as she transformed the two Parademons into dead ants. "_Why didn't you just let me use magic on them in the first place? It would've been quick and simple…We're supposed to be on a stealth mission, remember?_"

Ghost grabbed her hand as they quickly and quietly snuck through several corridors before stopping at a door. "_The more enemies I take out, the less I have to deal with when we bust the league out. Besides… what's the fun in sneaking around if I can't break a few heads along the way?_"

Zatanna held the bridge of her nose as if she had a migraine. "_I married an assassin… what was I thinking…_"

"_Do you want a divorce?_" Ghost placed his ear against the door as he heard several footsteps coming his way.

"_Do you like being a rabbit?_" Zatanna smirked back at her husband.

"_Seems like a loveless marriage to me when the wife starts turning her husband into animals just for the fun of it._" Ghost quickly guided Zatanna to the corner behind him before going back to stand at the side of the doorway.

Zatanna forced herself to hold in her laughter as she covered her mouth with her hands. "_But I'll never stop loving you! Even if you're my cute little carrot nibbling bunny._"

"_I married a sorceress… what was I thinking…_" Ghost mockingly smacked himself in the head.

Finally getting her laughter under control, Zatanna grinned at Ghost. "_As I remember it, you didn't have a choice._"

"_Just because you tell everyone that you bullied me into loving you, that you completely took over my house…even before you decided to move yourself in… and that you forced me to marry you, doesn't mean that it's all true._" Ghost took out eight bat-a-rangs, four in each hand, with each one in a different slot between his fingers and thumb. As four Parademons patrolling in a diamond shaped formation stepped through the sliding door, Ghost instantly jumped out while throwing all eight bat-a-rangs into each one of their eyes. Ghost went to work as the four blind Parademons tried to pull out the pair of bat-a-rangs from their bleeding eyes. He grabbed one of the knife-edged spears that a Parademon dropped and impaled the first one in the heart before ripping it out. With the Parademon's heart falling off the blade, Ghost turned around and sliced the fourth one's head off. His momentum allowed him to spin around and quickly jab the back end of the spear into the throat of the Parademon on the left before jamming the blade into the brain of the one on the right. Ghost quickly made a black flip over the choking demon as he grabbed onto its shoulders, pulled it down, and kicked his feet into its lower spine, breaking its back in one swift flowing motion before falling to the ground. Just to be on the safe side, Ghost immediately snapped its neck before grabbing another knifed-edged spear and popping back onto his feet. His hands quickly came down in a chopping motion as the blade vertically sliced the first Parademon in half. The two halves of the Parademon slowly peeled apart, allowing Ghost and Zatanna to look at each other again. "_Too easy._"

Zatanna shook her head while crossing her arms over her chest. "_Showoff… well, did you not love me? And not want me to live with you?_"

"_That's not the point._" Ghost walked up to the door as he motioned for her to get rid of the bodies. "_It's… uh… oh forget it. Now I remember why I never talk during a mission._"

"_But technically we aren't talking._" Zatanna smirked as she waved her wand to clean up all of the blood stains on his suit. "_Would it kill you to do that without making such a mess?_"

Ghost sighed while rolling his eyes. "_Why must you always distract me when I'm working?_"

"_Because I'm very good at it… not to mention how much fun it is to mess with you!_" Zatanna grinned as she flicked her wand to turn all the bloody bodies on the floor into ants. "_Seriously though… did you really have to be_ _so ruthless like that? You know how much it worries me when you get into those kinds of fights…_"

Ghost grabbed Zatanna's left hand with his right as he peeked through the door to see if it was clear. "_I know… but since they fight to kill, so will I. When you're around, keeping you safe is my number one priority._"

Zatanna smiled as she squeezed his hand tightly. "_Yea, yea… I know you'd be traumatized without me, but don't use me as an excuse to rip their heads off, you crazy violent weirdo._"

"_Alright, alright… we'll do it your way._" Ghost led Zatanna around the corner before making their way down the hall. "_Let's go, every second counts. The cellblock control room is just down this corridor._"

Zatanna held onto her top hat with her right hand as they ran down the corridor to the entrance of the cellblock control room. She watched Ghost take out one of Batman's gadgets and place it on the door. "_Since when did you start listening to Bruce?_"

"_Damn… when Bruce's right, he's right…_" Ghost mentally chuckled to himself as he waited for the device to finish scanning the room.

"_What?_" Zatanna raised her eyebrow in confusion.

"_Nothing… never mind…_" Ghost detached the scanner and put it back into his belt. "_I thought you wanted me to do this your way._" He looked back at Zatanna and tilted his head towards the door."_Only one demon in there… Think you can handle it or should I rip its head off?_"

Zatanna smirked as she shook her head. "_You wanted to do it the fun way? Watch and maybe you'll learn something._" Zatanna took out her wand and transformed the both of them into Parademons as she waited for Ghost to open the door. They walked in to the room to greet the lone Parademon watching the cellblock monitors.

Ghost quickly came up from behind and snapped its neck while Zatanna closed the door. "_You're right. That was fun._"

Zatanna glared at Ghost after seeing the Parademon's body fall to the floor. "_I thought we were doing it MY way…_"

"_What? We did do it your way._" Ghost began typing on the control panel to access all the locking mechanisms of every cell unit.

Zatanna continued to glare at him while changing them back. "_Liar…_" After the transformations were complete, she turned to look through the main window to see all of the captured leaguers being guarded by several Parademons.

"_Well… its head is still attached to its body. So… technically I did do it your way._" Ghost smirked as Zatanna punched him on the arm.

"G, Z, status report." Oracle's voice came through each of their earpieces, immediately putting an end to their bickering.

Zatanna tapped on hers while opening one of the pouches on Ghost's belt and taking out the scrambler. "Z here, yea we're about to bust them out now. Tell B to hang tight for a few more seconds."

"Got it, let me know if you need anything." Oracle said as Zatanna and Ghost simultaneously triggered the scrambler and unlocked every cell on the ship.

Chaos instantly emerged within the cellblocks as the war between the league and the Parademon guards destroyed the ship from the inside out. Ghost immediately took out an explosive bat-a-rang and blew up the main window looking down at the cellblocks to join the fight. With the little amount of Parademons on the ship, the leaguers were able to quickly and decisively take down every single one of Darkseid's minions.

Zatanna quickly gathered the league around her and Ghost as she gave out orders. "Batman and Wonder Woman are down at the embassy's courtyard fighting off all of Darkseid's forces. All of you are to give immediate support." Zatanna quickly turned to Supergirl and Donna. "You guys need to free Superman and the others. Here's the key to manually open the restraints, don't lose it!"

Supergirl took the key from Zatanna as a worried looked appeared on her face. "Got it… but is Superman ok?"

"I'm not sure… but go now, we can't waste anymore time." Zatanna said as she watched the rest of the league blast their way down towards the embassy courtyard.

"Wait… what about you two?" Supergirl raised her eyebrow in confusion.

"We have another mission to complete before we can join the party." Zatanna quickly glanced at Ghost before motioning for Donna and Supergirl to get going.

"Don't worry, we're on it!" Donna quickly grabbed Supergirl before flying off to free the founding members.

"Alright let's get to the main control ship and finish this!" Zatanna was about to run off when Ghost grabbed her arm. She quickly turned around with a confused look on her face.

"_This way… we need to make a quick stop at the armory ship first._" Ghost motioned in the opposite direction before taking off with Zatanna running closely behind him.

"Batman! G and Z are about to break the bank." Batman heard Oracle on his earpiece while avoiding the thousands of attacking Parademons that surrounded him and Wonder Woman.

"Understood" Batman quickly glanced at the special cell containing Superman. "Status on the solar gun?"

"It's almost fully charged. ETA five minutes." Oracle said before Batman sliced an attacking Parademon's head off with his knife-edged spear.

Darkseid watched Batman and Wonder Woman continue to flawlessly fight off his forces. "_Impressive… but they are still weak nevertheless._" His attention zeroed in on Wonder Woman as her back was turned towards him. "_I believe it's time to see how big of a weakness The Amazon Warrior really is to Batman._" Darkseid shot an energy beam at Wonder Woman while keeping his sights locked on Batman.

Batman's eyes widened as he saw the giant beam out of the corner of his eye. "DIANA!" He immediately disengaged from the several Parademons he was fighting with to push Wonder Woman out of the way, taking the shot to the ribs. With his own strength and momentum, he managed to safely push her several feet out of the blast radius.

Wonder Woman's face immediately became filled with concern as she looked at the giant explosion that just occurred. "BATMAN!" Diana tried to get onto her feet but several Parademons jumped on her back and immediately began electrocuting her with their spears. Wonder Woman ignored the intense pain as a mixture of anger and fear ran through her body while taking control of her brain. Now desperately trying to reach Batman, she bulldozed her way through multiple Parademons when a set of restraints suddenly locked onto her wrists and ankles. Wonder Woman came crashing down onto the floor before being electrocuted again by the relentless pack of Parademons. "BATMAN!" There was only one thing on her mind as she eagerly waited and prayed for the cloud of smoke to disperse and see him standing. Wonder Woman could still feel that he was still alive, but the damage he had taken was severe enough to put him on the brink of death. Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped in horror when she saw Batman's motionless body lying on the floor with half of his suit burnt up. "BATMAN! GET UP!"

Darkseid smirked as he shook his head. "Pathetic… wasted his life just to save a woman…" He hovered over to Wonder Woman while motioning for his minions to bring Batman's body over to them. "I have to admit, you both are impressive... but not nearly in my league. I'm also surprised about how much the both of you have changed since our last encounter." Darkseid looked down at Wonder Woman as three Parademons kept her pinned to the floor.

"You'll pay for this! Hera help me, I'll rip your spine out and feed your dead carcass to Cerberus!" Diana's eyes narrowed as she glared at him.

Darkseid grinned as he watched his minions drop Batman in front of him. "Your pathetic gods are not of a concern to me. I will easily dispose of them once I am finished with you and your so-called husband." Turning his attention back to Wonder Woman, Darkseid emotionlessly stared straight back at her. "It seems he has had a very significant influence on you… you are darker than before, such as your new attire suggests. Whether it is a strength or weakness to you remains to be seen… but as for him…" Darkseid turned back to Batman, who now was slowly trying to get up. "Your influence on him is obviously a significant weakness… willing to throw his life away… what a delusional fool." Darkseid motioned for his minions to place restraints on Batman and lift him up.

"You're the delusional fool! You have no idea what Batman's capable of!" Wonder Woman bitterly spat out while her eyes remained squarely focused on Batman. He was alive and moving… barely… but alive, just like she knew he was.

Completely ignoring Wonder Woman's rants, Darkseid grabbed Batman by the throat with his left hand and lifted him up in the air so that his feet dangled inches off of the floor. Seeing that Batman wasn't fully conscious of what was going on, Darkseid squeezed his throat until he grunted in pain and glared back at him. "Impressive… not many can survive a fully concentrated energy beam of that magnitude."

"I'm… full of… surprises…" Batman managed to grunt out as Darkseid's grip around his neck continued to tighten.

"Darkseid smirked. "You're full of shit. Impressive as your skills and abilities may be, you have pathetically weakened yourself with your dependence on her life." Darkseid motioned for his minions to electrocute Wonder Woman so that Batman could hear her scream in excruciating pain. "I've clearly overestimated you… you have failed miserably on your pitiful attempt to defeat me and my forces by yourselves. Now you will watch as I torture your so-called wife until she begs for death…" Darkseid's smirk quickly disappeared as he immediately looked up at the prison ship as if something was seriously wrong.

Batman managed a smirk of his own while clearing his throat. "Who said anything about fighting you alone?"

* * *

**A/N: **I thought I'd throw in a little comedic relief. It was actually harder to do without having Flash be the center of the jokes. It just seems easy with him… probably because of the cartoon.

As for the ants… I'm not sure why I picked that, it just made me laugh when I thought of it, so I said "sure why not"

Thanks for reading and let me know what you think!


	10. World at War

**World at War**

Darkseid watched in surprise as all of The Justice League members came bursting out of the prison ship, sending it crashing down into an already decimated office building. After seeing his swarming army of Parademons immediately collide with the oncoming heroes, Darkseid turned his attention back towards Batman. "For the annoyance you have brought upon me, I'll enjoy watching you see her suffer the full extent of my wrath!" Darkseid raised his right hand towards Wonder Woman as a ball of energy began to charge.

Suddenly nine explosive bat-a-rangs embedded themselves into Darkseid's arms while three explosive wing-dings made their way onto his face. The immediate explosion caused Darkseid to drop Batman just as Black Canary used her sonic scream to blast him into the embassy building across the courtyard. The batclan and The Birds of Prey quickly formed a defensive perimeter around Batman and Wonder Woman, blocking them off from the swarming Parademon army.

"You alright boss?" Robin ducked underneath a tackling Parademon before planting a roundhouse kick into the face of another.

"We've got to free Superman and the others!" Batman barked out as he managed to sit up.

Robin smirked as he threw several more explosive bat-a-rangs at the faces of two Parademons that were closing in on Batgirl. "I'll take that as a yes."

"You crazy bastard! Don't ever sacrifice yourself to save me again!" Wonder Woman couldn't wait to get her hands on Batman as she crawled over to him. If it wasn't for the restraints, she would have bashed his head in by now.

Batman glanced at her before watching the war between the league and the Parademons continue. "You'd think one would be more appreciative when someone saves her from a fatal injury…" After the words left his mouth, he immediately regretted it as Wonder Woman went from furious to beyond pissed off.

"Once this is over, I'm going to kill you myself!" Wonder Woman finally crawled up to Batman and slammed her restraints on his arm. She hit him harder than she intended to, but felt that he deserved it anyways.

"Holy crap! Bats is the man!" Flash said in excitement as he watched the war through the transparent force field walls.

Green Lantern nodded in agreement. "It's about time…"

Superman smirked as he continued to cough up blood. "I… I… told you… he knew… what he's… do… doing…"

"Finally! It's our turn to join the party!" Shayera saw Supergirl and Donna blast their way through the hundreds of Parademons and towards the generator that kept the force field surrounding them active.

Donna flew straight through the generator, causing an explosion that instantly deactivated the barrier. Supergirl quickly used the key to unlock Flash. "Here use this to free everyone else!" She gave him the key before rushing off to help Superman.

"Sweet!" Flash bolted around the others, freeing them instantly.

"Flash! You need to free Batman and Wonder Woman now!" Donna pointed over to where the batclan and The Birds of Prey were at, guarding the two.

"Be back in a Flash!" Flash saluted Donna before zipping across the courtyard.

"Kara, Donna… stay here with Superman, we'll take care of the Parademons." J'onn transformed into a giant dragon-like monster while Shayera picked up her mace and flew off with Green Lantern.

"Batman! The gun is charged and on route. ETA ten seconds!" Batman got up to his feet after Flash had freed him and Wonder Woman from the restraints.

"Understood. Status update on Z and G when you can." He quickly looked over to where Superman was, with Kara and Donna doing all they can to defend him. "Flash! Bring Superman here!" He watched Flash zoom off in a blur only to return almost instantly with Superman. Batman looked up to see the old beat up mini batjet eject the solar gun just before several Parademons easily tore it apart. "Cover me!" Batman shouted to the batclan as he flew up to grab the gun. As the batclan and Wonder Woman were drawing the attacks away from Batman, The Birds continued to hold the perimeter around Superman. Batman immediately shot Superman with the maximum highly concentrated pure yellow sunlight energy that the solar gun could produce on a single charge. He calculated – hoped – that it would be just enough to completely restore Superman. This gun wasn't nearly as powerful as the one back in the primary cave, but it was the best he could make with the lack of proper resources and high capacity generators to charge it in a timely manner… waiting a little over two and a half days was ridiculous. Proving that his calculations were correct, the light beam hit Superman in the chest and instantly healed most of the smaller wounds while closing up the more severe ones a few seconds later.

Superman's eyes widened with anger as he immediately stood up, feeling as if he had limitless energy surging through his veins. He cracked his knuckles while watching Batman land back down in front of him. "Where's Darkseid!"

Batman looked over to see Darkseid emerge from the giant hole at the entrance of the embassy. "He's all yours… I'll take care of the rest." Superman nodded at Batman before bolting over to face Darkseid. Batman noticed that the Parademons were still using the restraints to take down the leaguers. "Flash! Use the key to free anyone who's been taken down!"

"Yes sir!" Flash immediately zipped around the courtyard, freeing one leaguer after another while avoiding the restraints that were targeting him in the process.

Of course the batclan wasn't as careless when it came to avoiding the restraints. They stayed close together, fighting as one cohesive unit while efficiently taking down every Parademon that came their way. Nightwing, Robin, and Batgirl didn't drift more than thirty feet apart from each other while Batman and Wonder Woman didn't stray away from the three by more than forty. Batman still wasn't at full strength yet, but he didn't need to be to take down Darkseid's minions.

Green Arrow and The Question teamed up with The Birds of Prey and Catwoman as they were also doing well as a unit, but were spread out a little bit too far for Batman's likings. As hard as it was to command his team and the rest of the league during a chaotic war while fighting off multiple Parademons himself, Batman got them to work together as efficiently as possible. The Justice League definitely needed to work on their teamwork during an all out war… Not that he was going to volunteer himself to train them on how to do it.

"Batman! G and Z have made their way into the control room. It's going to take about thirty minutes to upload instead of the twenty we originally thought…" Oracle said through Batman's earpiece as he took control of a Parademon's knife-edged spear and sliced another in half at the waist.

Batman quickly set a timer on the computer system within his cowl. "And..." He spun around and launched the spear, impaling three Parademons that were about to jump Donna and Wonder Woman from behind.

Oracle sighed, knowing Batman wasn't going to like this part. "Because we're dealing with Brainiac's extremely complex network… I need them to stay there until it finishes uploading just incase it crashes and needs to be uploaded again…"

"_DAMN IT!_" Batman's eyes narrowed in anger. It was becoming more of a suicide mission for Ghost and Zatanna than he expected it to be. "Agreed. I have Superman giving Darkseid all he can handle at the moment. So as long as Darkseid remains distracted of what's going on, they should be fine."

"They also have to manually override the system and activate the virus once it's in place…" Oracle added.

Pure anger boiled through Batman veins as he viciously punched a Parademon in the face, instantly snapping its neck in the process. "DAMN IT! The instant the virus is uploaded, the entire network will shutdown and the ship will come crashing down. Once it's done, make sure they get the hell out of there!"

Superman didn't say anything… mostly because there wasn't anything that needed to be said. The instant his eyes locked onto Darkseid emerging from what was left of the embassy, Superman's anger blew past its limitations and reaching uncharted levels. Superman appeared in front of Darkseid almost instantaneously as he summoned up all the power he could ever generate into one giant explosive strike to his face. The monstrous force sent out shockwaves that blasted everyone within the vicinity into the atmosphere. Everyone else, including the Parademons, had to shield themselves from the debris and the colossal dust cloud that was created in the blast's aftermath. For a moment, there was complete silence as everyone listened to Superman furiously panting while glaring past the twenty completely collapsed buildings that he had just sent Darkseid through.

"DARKSEID!" Superman roared, suddenly scaring half the leaguers. No one outside of the original seven, had ever seen Superman in such an infuriated state before. Fortunately, the leaguers didn't have time to respond to their initial fears or think of what an irrational Superman bent on vengeance was capable of, as the Parademons quickly took it upon themselves to resume the war.

Darkseid easily shook off the rubble that buried him as he stood up and made his way back towards Superman. "If that's the best you got Kal-El… then you're weaker than I originally…"

Superman quickly shut Darkseid up as he repeatedly bashed in Darkseid's face before sending him in the air with a mighty uppercut to the chin. Superman immediately met Darkseid in the air as he hammered him back into the ground. The impact that Darkseid made with the ground rivaled that of a meteorite slamming into the Earth from outer space. Seismic waves shot out in all directions, toppling all of the remaining buildings that were still partially standing while forcing all the fighters standing on the Earth's surface to try to keep their balance and avoid the newly created fissures.

The Earth continued to shake as Darkseid exploded out of the ground and responded with a series of devastating hits of his own. Darkseid was able to deliver a combination of strikes to Superman's head, kidneys, and stomach before returning the favor and hammering The Man of Steel into the ground. With his anger and furry fueling his strength, Superman stood back up and almost instantaneously flew back at Darkseid. "_He has NO idea what I'm capable of!_" Before Darkseid could react, Superman connected with a bone shattering strike to his jaw that completely knocked him off balance.

Out of the corner of his eye, Batman watched Superman and Darkseid continue to trade blows as he fought off multiple Parademons. This wasn't about being the better fighter or outmaneuvering the other, it was about the both of them trying to prove who the superior being is once and for all. Batman knew that not only could Superman beat Darkseid, but beat him more efficiently if he only chose to use his brain. While Superman's rage increased his current strength and power beyond that of Darkseid's, it also made him reckless. To Superman, it was all about pride, to prove to himself and to Darkseid that he could take the best Darkseid could dish out and still beat him into oblivion. Nevertheless, Superman was doing exactly what Batman planned… Superman was buying precious time that Ghost and Zatanna needed to complete their mission.

The pure hatred Superman felt towards Darkseid was easily seen by the intense glare in his eyes. He was relentless, not giving himself or Darkseid any chance to recover as he threw one strike after another. Having his hands completely covered in Darkseid's blood only pushed him further onto the offensive. It didn't matter that Darkseid's fists were covered in his blood as well. Superman could feel that Darkseid was slowing down, that the momentum was finally shifting towards his direction. Even though his body was beaten and battered, Superman ignored the pain as he finally toppled Darkseid. He landed a critical strike onto Darkseid's left temple, which stunned him long enough to allow Superman to follow up with a final devastating attack. Not missing the opportunity, Superman grabbed Darkseid's throat and repeatedly hammered away at his face until Darkseid's body remained lifeless. With one last strike, Superman struck Darkseid on the crown of his skull as hard as he possibly could. The lethal hit sent powerful shockwaves down Darkseid's spine, obliterating all the nerves and shattering it completely as he came crashing down into the ground.

With his rage slowly subsiding, Superman hovered above Darkseid's broken and decimated body. His glare intensified as he saw Darkseid move his head slightly to look up at Superman. "It's over Darkseid, I owned you while all of your forces have been defeated."

Darkseid forced laughter out of his mouth while profusely coughing up his own blood. Managing to grin at Superman, he saw that Batman and Wonder Woman had come to stand beside him with the rest of The Justice League triumphantly looking on in the background. "Foolish… Kryptonian… did… you think… it would… be… this easy… to… defeat me?"

Superman crossed his arms over his chest. "You're pathetic. I easily outclassed you, just as Batman clearly outsmarted you in everyway."

Darkseid began laughing harder as he seemed to regain more energy in the process. "You… you… have clearly… underestimated my powers Kal-El." Suddenly Darkseid's blood red eyes began glowing as his beaten and battered body regenerated and completely healed itself. "I have collected all the knowledge and powers throughout the entire universe. I can't be defeated." Darkseid resurrected all of his minions with another bright flash of his eyes. "My forces are unstoppable… as am I."

Superman's eyes widened in disbelief. "How is this possible?"

"It's Brainiac combined with the anti-life equation… As long as Darkseid still has him and that integrated into his body and network, he'll continue to regenerate himself and his forces at will." Batman grabbed a knife-edged spear from an attacking Parademon and sliced its head off.

Superman used his heat vision to cut through several oncoming Parademons. "How do we stop him?"

"Already working on it." Batman checked on the timer displayed within the lenses of his cowl. "Just keep him busy for another twelve minutes."

Superman clenched his fists as he immediately found his target. "You got it… A twelve minute round of ass whooping coming up."

* * *

**A/N: **Hi Guys! I was contemplating whether or not to make the solar gun not work, but I really wanted to have Superman beat the crap out of Darkseid… so I hope you don't mind Batman's plan working this time.

I realize that scientifically, that all that exposure to Kryptonite should probably have some long term effects resulting in death. Or I could have gone with the route some of you mentioned with it not working for a while, but it seems like healing Superman quickly justifiably rewards him for his complete faith in Batman.

I know what you guys are going to ask about next. The epic friendship dialogue between Batman and Superman will in the next chapter! I know I promised you guys for the longest time, but its coming!

Let me know what you think, and thanks for reading!


	11. The League's True Leader

**A/N: **It's taken me a little longer than I thought to write this chapter out, but I think I got everything to flow smoothly. Thanks for reading!

* * *

The League's True Leader

Darkseid smirked as he saw Superman flying straight at him while winding up to throw a punch at his face. "_Idiot_" Darkseid easily grabbed his arm, throwing him over the shoulder.

Superman couldn't help but crack a smile while rolling over Darkseid's shoulder. He immediately countered Darkseid's throw as he grabbed onto Darkseid's chest with his free hand. Superman landed on his feet after combining his own momentum with Darkseid's and firing him into a giant pile of rubble across the courtyard. "_Diana was right… I really should start training with Bruce more often…_"

The giant pile of rubble exploded as Darkseid blasted out of it in rage. Seeing Superman hovering in the air with that arrogant smirk on his face infuriated Darkseid. He quickly charged at Superman, trying to hit him with series of strikes but Superman either avoided or blocked every single one of his attacks. Superman waited until Darkseid's anger and frustration made him reckless enough to leave a big enough opening to deliver a toppling attack of his own. After Darkseid missed another punch targeted at his head, Superman went on the offensive. He broke several of Darkseid's ribs with a left jab, and then struck with a shot to the gut. Darkseid coughed up blood as the shot to the gut momentarily lifted him into the air before Superman sent him flying into a pack of Parademons with a fully charged blow to the left temple.

After healing himself again, Darkseid got back up to his feet without taking his eyes off of Superman until something caught his attention. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a red streak zip through the courtyard while continuously freeing captured leaguers from their restraints. Darkseid's eyes glowed once more, resurrecting all of his fallen minions before turning his attention back towards Superman. "Your league's futile attempt to defeat my forces ends now Kal-El." Darkseid instantly trapped Flash in an anti-gravity bubble, leaving him helplessly floating in the air. A set of restraints quickly latched onto Flash's wrists and ankles before Darkseid disabled the bubble, sending Flash crashing onto the floor.

Superman's eyes widened as he saw the number of his forces steadily drop. Even the heroes who were capable of avoiding the restraints were eventually brought down as the Parademon to Justice League member ratio continued to increase in Darkseid's favor. He noticed that the batclan was making their way towards the key on the floor as he returned his attention back to Darkseid. "_Just continue to stall…_" Trusting Batman's plan, Superman took a deep breath before making his way towards Darkseid. "I don't need any help taking you down!"

An arrogant grin formed on Darkseid's face as he let his guard down. "Breathing heavily aren't we? It seems that Batman's device wasn't able to completely restore you to your natural state…" Darkseid let out a small chuckle. "It is indeed fascinating as to what prolonged exposure to Kryptonite can do to a Kryptonian."

Superman's eyes widened in panic for an instant. "_J'onn! Connect me to Batman!_" The great amount of pure adrenaline and determination to beat down Darkseid had left him completely unaware of the unusually high level of fatigue that he was now feeling.

J'onn quickly phased into his solid form, clotheslining a Parademon and sending it crashing into what was left of an already destroyed building. "_Done!_"

"_Batman! I…_" Superman slowly started walking towards Darkseid as if nothing was wrong.

"_I know…_ _Calm down… I already knew that this was a possibility._" Batman cut Superman off. This wasn't the time to have a lengthy explanation Superman's recovery period. "_To simplify it, the overexposure to Kryptonite basically caused it to act like cancer to you… but relax. I made sure that the solar gun was powerful enough to eradicate the Kryptonite from your body… you received a boost in energy from the pure sunlight, but your body still needs time to readjust and recharge. Fighting Darkseid like you did, drained that temporary strength it gave you. With the lack of time, resources, and not being physically able to actually run some tests on you, it wasn't strong enough to overcome your body's recovery rate. Given time in natural sunlight, you'll be back to normal._"

"_Are you sure?_" Superman trusted Batman, but just had to ask again to calm his nerves.

"_Aren't I always? Just pace yourself and…_" The connection between Batman and Superman was cut off as a set of restraints sent J'onn falling to the ground.

"_Well… that's good enough for me…_" That was all Superman needed to hear as he reengaged Darkseid once again.

"Catwoman! Grab the key!" Batman threw out several smoke bombs around Flash and the key to give her extra cover. The number of Parademons were becoming too much for them to handle. Everyone was being taken down… Batman revised his mental list of who was still fighting as he noticed that Green Lantern and Shayera were the latest to be taken down. "_Damn it… that just leaves W, N, BG, R, BC, H, Catwoman, Donna, and Supergirl…_"

Catwoman used her whip to snatch the key before tossing it at Robin as she flipped over an attacking Parademon. "Watch your back!" Catwoman cracked her whip, wrapping it around the neck of a Parademon that was about to tackle Wonder Woman.

Wonder Woman immediately spun around, hitting the Parademon in the face and sending it crashing into another group of Parademons that were about to tackle Catwoman. "Thanks" Wonder Woman smirked as Catwoman watched the unconscious pack of minions land on the floor behind her.

"Teamwork… who knew?" Catwoman shrugged her shoulders before clawing out the eyes of another Parademon.

Robin made his way towards Batman and threw him the key. "They just got Huntress and Canary!" He kicked a Parademon in the face while avoiding a set of restraints by using another as a shield.

"I've noticed… Supergirl's down too." Batman quickly put the key in one of the pouches on his belt while taking another explosive bat-a-rang out and throwing it at a pack of Parademons. "Everyone converge on me! They're spreading us out too far!" Batman had both Robin and Batgirl by his side as he saw Nightwing and Catwoman make their way over.

"There's too many of them!" Donna stood back to back with Diana as she waved the knife-edged spear around to create some distance between her and the swarming pack of Parademons.

"Don't stop! Keep going!" Wonder Woman avoided a spear thrown her way as she bashed in the face of a Parademon on her left before throwing the minion to her right to take out five more.

"They just took down Nightwing and Catwoman!" Robin ducked underneath a tackling Parademon before sweeping his legs to trip another. "They're just trying to slow us down enough… ACK!" A pair of restraints locked his wrists together as he was about to throw a set of bat-a-rangs. Batgirl quickly threw a Parademon at Robin's feet just as the restraints aiming for his ankles opened up. Having the restraints lock onto the Pardemon's instead, Robin jumped up and made his way closer to her. "LOOK OUT!" Robin kicked Batgirl out of the way from behind as ten Parademons tackled Robin. Her eyes widened in shock as she popped back up onto her feet, only to have a set of restraints lock her ankles together and send her crashing back down to the floor.

"_DAMN IT!_" Batman was too busy avoiding the many restraints that were after him while fighting off what seemed to be like hundreds of Parademons trying to tackle him at once to stop Robin and Batgirl from getting taken down.

Out of the corner of her eye, Wonder Woman watched Batman fend off the swarming Parademons by himself. "We have to get back to Batman! He won't be able to withstand that alone!"

Darkseid watched Superman pick himself up from off of the floor as he wiped the blood away from his mouth. "You are slowing down Kal-El… becoming weaker by the minute. You are no longer a match for me."

"That's what you think!" Superman reached back with every once of strength he had left and delivered one last strike to Darkseid's face. He could only stare in disbelief as his fist stopped dead in its tracks against Darkseid's nose. He couldn't even get Darkseid to flinch an inch.

Darkseid smirked before quickly headbutting Superman in the face. As blood flew out of Superman's mouth and nose, Darkseid grabbed Superman's head and hammered it into the ground. Another set of restraints latched onto Superman's wrists and ankles as he hovered over the now defenseless Superman. "Your failure was inevitable Kal-El… I will truly enjoy watching all your friends die by my hands."

Hearing the ground shatter when Superman's skull slammed into it caught Donna's attention as she turned to see him lying still on the floor. "SUPERMAN'S DOWN!" Donna stopped to turn and fly back to help Superman when a set of restraints suddenly latched onto her wrists and ankles.

"NO!" Wonder Woman eyes widened as she saw Donna falling out of the sky with the restraints locked onto her. That few seconds of hesitation was all the Parademons needed, as dozens of them tackled her and held her still long enough to lock the restraints onto her limbs as well.

Darkseid watched the two Amazons fall out of the sky while having one of his minions drag Superman along with him. He made his way over to Batman, only to see him blast out of the pile and catch the two Amazons just before they hit the ground. Darkseid eyes flashed again, immediately stopping his forces from attacking Batman. He watched Batman safely place Wonder Woman and Donna beside him and out of the reach of the surrounding Parademons. Batman stood straight up, allowing his cape to conceal his entire body as Darkseid's minions gathered all of the other fallen leaguers and lined them up between their master and The Dark Knight. None of the leaguers said a word as they watched the stare down between the two. Seeing that Batman was obviously not intimidated by the situation, Darkseid hovered closer to him. "I realize now, that I have clearly underestimated you Batman."

Darkseid motioned for his minions to line up the batclan and the other founding members of The Justice League on both sides of him. "It's easy to see why they all are so heavily dependent on your orders and tactics on the battle field." Darkseid looked down and kicked Superman across the face. "Even this one… At first I thought you were a coward when you initially chose not to reveal yourself… But now I see that you are in fact the general, and the sole reason why this so-called league hasn't succumbed to the pathetic state of mediocrity that it's destined to become." Darkseid's blood red eyes looked directly into the white lenses of Batman's cowl. "It's widely known that in order to obliterate the opposing army, one must take out the one in command… Obviously I believed it to be Superman…"

"He IS, and will always be our leader." Batman stated coldly, to the surprise of everyone. It was a well known fact that both Batman and Superman always had, at best, an edgy rivalry about who had the final say in league matters. Superman's eyes widened in disbelief the instant he heard it. Even though he knew that Bruce had the utmost respect for him, getting a complement in public from Batman was rarer than seeing him smile.

"There's no point in denying it Batman… You can't hide behind your puppet's shadow anymore." Darkseid kicked Superman in the gut, causing him to cough up blood from the vicious shot.

"The Justice League is Superman." Batman's eyes narrowed as he mentally cursed himself for publicly admitting how great Superman is. He did, after all, have an image to keep. "He symbolizes everything the league stands for… truth, justice, and to have the moral decency to do what is right. Superman is the one that allows the people of not just this world, but others as well, to believe in hope. To keep the faith alive, to believe that they will be saved… no matter the situation or circumstance."

Diana watched Batman as he spoke. It wasn't like him to speak so openly in public before. She could feel that he meant every word, but was obviously uncomfortable. Diana knew, just as Batman knew, that Superman wouldn't let this down after this was over. She didn't know why, but part of her strongly believed that Flash was somehow recording this. Diana couldn't help but to completely fall in love with him all over again. Here was her husband, the last man standing, taking on Darkseid without any hint of fear. Batman was putting his reputation on the line as he defended Superman's honor. Not to mention the fact that he openly stated he believed that Superman's way was truly the best way to keep the people's hopes alive. Saying that she was blessed to have him in her life and as her husband was truly an understatement… there is no one better for her.

"There's no one better at saving the lives of the innocent. It's his duty to lead the rest of us by his example with the highest of moral standards. As for me…" Batman could feel everyone's eyes lock onto him has he spoke. It felt somewhat unnerving to be the center of everyone's attention. It was always Superman's job to be standing in the middle of the spotlight. "It's my duty to make sure it stays that way, and do whatever it takes to get the job done… even if that means killing you."

Darkseid chuckled. "You delusional fool. You praise Kal-El to be the best… better than you. And yet, you believe you can do what Superman pitifully failed to do?"

Everyone's eyes switched from Darkseid to Batman as they waited anxiously for a response from The Dark Knight. "I am everything that Superman won't or can't be… Not because I choose to be, but because I have to be."

"You just don't get it. The things Batman and I do are entirely different… no one can even come close to doing the things he does." Superman glared up at Darkseid as blood ran down his chin. "Batman always finds a way… always. He won't stop, not as long as he's still breathing."

"I too, will not stop until I kill every one of you… and destroy this pathetic planet." Darkseid's eyes flashed as one of his minions came up and began electrocuting Superman. "I find it highly improbable that either of you will defeat me… let alone kill me."

Batman watched Superman scream in excruciating pain. Without his super strength, Superman was just a mere human with absolutely no resistance whatsoever to being electrocuted. "The probably of Superman killing you doesn't exist because Superman will never kill. Deep down… Superman is a good man. He was raised right, with morals, and the mindset to be the best he could possibly be… and he is. I won't allow anyone, himself included, to destroy his name, and everything that he symbolizes by killing you or anyone else. Not while the people continue to believe in him."

Batman shifted his shoulders to open up his cape and reveal the highly recognized insignia on his chest. "I… on the other hand… deep down, am not a good man. And if it comes down to it, I WILL kill you if I have to."

"Your arrogance is amusing… to think that you have the power to kill a God." Darkseid finally motioned for his minion to stop torturing Superman. "Everyone will witness your pathetic attempt to match my powers." Darkseid glanced at Wonder Woman before returning his attention to Batman. "I will enjoy seeing your precious wife watch in horror as I rip the flesh off of your bones and bathe in your blood."

"BATMAN! The virus didn't work…" Oracle's voice rang through Batman's earpiece.

"_DAMN IT!_" Batman gritted his teeth while clenching his fists tighter as parts of the Kevlar armor cracked. Luckily for him, everyone read the anger he uncharacteristically showed as an immediate reaction to Darkseid's taunts. "_There's no way I can beat him without it taking effect._"

* * *

**A/N: **I thought of making the extent of Superman's exposure to Kryptonite more severe, but it wouldn't really fit into what I have planned next.

So here's the chapter I promised most of you. I hope that friendship/respect scene was epic enough for you. It was kind of hard to get want I wanted in there and still keep the flow of the story going. I hope you liked it.

Feel free to let me know what you think.


	12. Sacrifice

**A/N: **Hi guys! This one took a little longer than I thought… but I believe I captured the emotions in this chapter the way I wanted to. I hope you enjoy it.

Again, thanks for the support and let me know what you think!

* * *

**Sacrifice**

Batman waited for Oracle to continue. "Brainiac's defensive systems nullified the virus' effects… but the good news is that G found a way to bypass it and for me to hack in undetected and create one that works. I'll keep you posted."

"_Need to stall… again…_" Batman regained his composure as he took a deep breath. "I've faced and defeated many beings in my lifetime… including a God. You're no different."

Darkseid smirked as he believed the momentum in their mind games had undeniably shifted in his favor. "I know everything about your so-called powers and your encounters with the Greek Gods. How you went through repeated challenges, if you call those challenges, to prove that you were worthy enough to be the Amazon's companion… How you gained your increased strength, agility, flight, senses, and immortality… among other insignificant gifts."

Pure anger and hatred surged throughout Diana's body as she glared at Darkseid. The other "insignificant gifts" were the bond between Batman and herself, and the love they shared for each other. To Diana, those two were the most important gifts they could ever possibly receive from her Gods. She was going make sure that Darkseid would pay for his arrogant mockery of her love for Bruce.

"You didn't even survive those pathetic challenges. Only on a technicality did you resurrect yourself from the underworld." Darkseid brought his hand up to reveal a giant sphere, replaying the extremely classified incident on Mt. Olympus for everyone to see. "How pitiful… Even your fight with Ares was mediocre at best. You couldn't even kill a second rate God…" Closing the sphere's images, Darkseid returned his sights towards Batman. "I will show you the true powers of a God…"

Batman cut him off. "You're no God."

Darkseid grinned as he watched Batman's eyes narrow into tiny white slits. "You're right…" Darkseid motioned for his minions to begin electrocuting the batclan and the founding members. "With the power of the anti-life equation in my possession, I shouldn't degrade myself to that of a lowly God… I have no equal."

"That's why you killed Luthor once he outlived his usefulness. He was the one who decoded the anti-life equation and translated its inscriptions for you because you were too intellectually inferior to do so yourself." Everyone's eyes widened as they heard those words leave Batman's mouth. Most of them thought he had lost his mind trying to piss off Darkseid even more while the others were praying that Batman knew what he was doing.

Darkseid's eyes narrowed. "You really are quite the detective… but don't think for second that you hacking into my network to access the anti-life equation before my Parademons destroyed your base went unnoticed. I was the one who allowed your access to it. I am however, curious as to how you survived it… I believed you would have died from the mere sight of it."

Diana's eyes widened as her jaw dropped in shock. "YOU CRAZY BASTARD! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" Her veins boiled with pure anger. She had no idea how the veins in her forehead didn't explode. Thank the Gods for blessing her with such strong blood vessels. Diana didn't know which pissed her off more, Batman being so willingly ready to sacrifice himself to save the world again without telling her, or the fact that she didn't realize that he did so right in front of her face for four days straight. Diana figured it ultimately didn't matter because both reasons still stemmed from him disregarding his own life.

"QUIET!" Batman barked out at Wonder Woman as he continued to glare at Darkseid.

Fighting off every single urge to find a way to bash Batman's head in, she conceded to his orders knowing he was up to something. But that didn't stop Diana from glaring at him as she kept silent. This wasn't over by a long shot… she definitely wasn't going to let him get away with this. She immediately remembered the severe and fatal dangers of the anti-life equation from the little bits of research that J'onn and Batman did after it first appeared on that day Luthor presented it to Darkseid. Legend had it that any being with less than a level twelve intellect would die instantly just by looking at its inscriptions. If one did have the mental capacity to be at least a twelfth level intellect, they would only have the slightest chance of survival when reading the inscriptions and actually decode them… not to mention that the possibility of going insane was almost guaranteed. "_That's why he was so much more mentally exhausted than ever before…_" Diana knew Bruce was smart, but she didn't believe he was anywhere near the twelfth level on the intellect scale. Now she understood why he refused to have Barbara around the computer for so long. Diana couldn't help but wonder how in Hera's name he managed to survive it – let alone decode it. She quickly thanked the Gods for blessing him with the strength and intelligence to do so.

"Having problems in the household?" Darkseid smirked as he saw the intensive glare that Wonder Woman was giving Batman.

Ignoring Diana's obvious anger towards him and Darkseid's mocking comment, Batman quickly brought the conversation back to belittling Darkseid's intelligence. "I knew Luthor was intelligent enough to be able to translate the anti-life equation with relative ease… and now I'm the only other being to do so."

"Translating the anti-life equation is one thing, but to understand it is another… and I'm the only one in the universe to possess its ultimate power." Darkseid confidently gloated as a blue energy force began to surround him.

Not showing any hint of intimidation, Batman continued to speak in his flat unemotional tone. "It probably took Luthor a day or two to fully translate it and understand its power… I admit that I probably couldn't process it as fast as he did… as it took me three full days to fully understand everything it had to offer after I had translated it."

Darkseid chuckled. "Even with the complete understanding of the anti-life equation's power, you still defy my superiority… One would think that you, of all beings, would realize the powers that I now possess."

"Do you really believe that Luthor was stupid enough to trust you with the complete translation? In all probability, he knew you would betray him the instant you found out how to harness its power." Batman watched as Darkseid turned the blue energy around him into an energy ball. "Like Luthor before you killed him, I know everything in this universe… including how to stop you and your so-called powers. Believe it or not, but Luthor is the one who began the process of finding away to destroy the anti-life equation. He outlined a way for me to continue and finish his work within the inscriptions..."

"Umm… I'm almost done. Can you stall for another ten minutes?" Oracle said hesitantly, not really sure if Batman was in a position to respond or not.

"Obviously…" Batman answered both her question and continued his condescending speech before returning his undivided attention towards Darkseid. "You really are stupider than you look…"

"Uh… hey Bats… I'm not sure it's a good idea to be calling the guy who has us all trapped stupid..." Flash interrupted Batman's rant as he continued to try to wiggle his way out of his restraints.

Green Lantern glared at Flash. "You call that helping?"

Ignoring her friends' constant bickering, Diana regained her focus. She couldn't believe that Bruce had tricked her again. "_Typical Bruce… get me upset about one thing to avoid another. That manipulative bastard…_"The belittling of her in front of everyone and revealing his ability to decode the anti-life equation was a two fold plan. He stalled for time and got her to lose focus on the bigger picture. Diana knew that the latter part of the plan lead to only one logical outcome: Bruce was going to do something that she wasn't going to like.

Completely losing his patience with Batman's arrogance, Darkseid fired a giant blue energy beam at Batman. Anticipating such a reaction from Darkseid, Batman immediately took out a batclaw and grappled onto one of the nearby Parademons. In one quick motion, he pulled it between himself and the energy beam as it blasted the minion into oblivion. The explosion emitted an immensely blinding light as Batman used his cape to cover his eyes while everyone else had to cover their eyes as best they could. Dozens of Parademons instantly tackled Batman as the bright light stunned him just long enough to give them the time they needed to take him down and lock a set of restraints onto his wrists and ankles. Darkseid grinned as his minions left Batman lying helplessly on the floor next to Wonder Woman and Donna.

"Your arrogance is quite annoying…" Darkseid smirked as he returned his sights onto Batman. "But then again, you do have a point…" Darkseid waved his hand, instantly trapping Batman in an anti-gravity bubble and leaving him incapable of escape. He raised his hand as it held another energy ball aimed at The Dark Knight. "I am indeed an idiot for allowing you to live for as long as you already have. I've come to realize that you're not just any opponent… I planned on saving this for when I finally decide to end Kal-El's pathetic life, but I believe you will appreciate the ultimate power of the anti-life beam the most."

Darkseid motioned towards the league as the energy ball grew to twice its initial size. "Since you already know of its ultimate power, I shall explain it to your ignorant friends…" Everyone's eyes widened in fear as they were fixated on the crimson red energy ball glowing in Darkseid's hand. "The anti-life beam is the most powerful weapon in the universe. No being can escape death after being hit by it… Not even a God, as I will now demonstrate."

Everyone dismally watched Batman hovering helplessly in the air. Diana continuously shifted her sights from Batman to Darkseid. "_Bruce and his idiotic contingency plan_" Quickly positioning herself, she waited until the very last possible second to jump in front of Batman and block the anti-life beam from hitting him.

"DIANA!" Batman's eyes widened in horror as he watched the beam hit her squarely in the chest. "DIANA!" Even though the beam never touched him, he felt as if he was hit with it as well. An astronomically excruciating pain attacked his heart the instant she was hit. Batman could feel Diana's heart weakening with each and every beat, struggling to pump the much needed oxygen enriched blood through her body. There was nothing he could do to save her, nothing to stop her from dying. Batman continued to float helplessly within the anti-gravity bubble as he watched his wife hit the floor hard.

"That was unexpected… interesting." Darkseid smirked to himself as he disabled the anti-gravity bubble, allowing Batman to fall to the floor and tend to his dying wife.

"DIANA!" Batman crawled to her as everyone else silently watched in complete and utter shock. "NO! Why did you do that! NO!" Batman placed his bonded wrists around Diana's neck as he lifted her up and into his lap. With his nose, he brushed off the loose strands of hair that was covering her face before anxiously waiting for her to open her eyes. The relentless unbearable throbbing pain that continued to destroy his heart was worse than all the pain he went through in his entire life combined. Fear of losing her completely took over his emotions as he repeatedly shouted her name while shaking her to wake up. "DIANA! Please! Wake up! Not like this… Wake up!" Diana stirred before finally managing to open her eyes as she began to repeatedly cough up blood. "WHY?!" Even though it was a rhetorical question, Batman couldn't help but ask as he hugged her tightly.

Diana forced a small smile before coughing up blood onto his chest. "Because… I love… you…" She looked into his white screened eyes before he came down to tenderly kiss her lips.

The kiss was broken when she couldn't help but to cough up blood into his mouth, desperately gasping for air. Batman shook his head as he brought her closer to him. "No… you should've let me take the hit…" Everyone knew that they both loved each other tremendously, but Wonder Woman was the only one to ever openly express it. Everyone's heart broke as they witnessed something that they thought they would never see: Batman openly expressing his true emotions and his undying love for his wife. He loved her more than they ever knew… Small tears ran down Batman's cheeks as he continued to gently shake Wonder Woman, trying to keep her awake.

With tears of her own running down her face, Diana cleared her throat to speak to her husband as best she could. "Can't… fool me… again…" She smiled as she rested her head on his shoulder. "… Won't allow… you to… die…" Diana hacked up more blood as her voice was thinning out. "… Not again… Never again…"

"Diana…" Batman gently kissed her again. He felt her heart slowing down to dangerous levels. She was close… it was only a matter of seconds.

Diana drew up the last bit of strength she had left to force one last smile. "Love… love you… too damn much… always… and for… forever…"

Diana's eyes closed as her head rolled lifelessly off his shoulder. "Diana? Diana? DIANA!" Batman refused to believe that she was dead as he continued to shake her. The unbearably excruciating pain within his heart instantly increased by a thousand fold, but he didn't care. For the first time, Batman didn't care that everyone still needed his help. He didn't care that the world was still in trouble. The mission didn't matter to him anymore. The safety of the people and the world didn't matter. The only thing that mattered was her presence in his heart. That feeling which Aphrodite blessed the two of them with was gone. Diana was gone. There was nothing left. His heart stopped beating the instant Diana's did. All that remained was the agonizingly relentless pain and the deep dark black hole that replaced his heart.

Batman had lost many things over the course of his life… a mother, a father, adoptive sons, close friends, and teammates. He dealt with all of those… every single one of them. He grieved over their deaths in his own way and continued to live on, fighting the same fight every day and night. But now, he had lost someone irreplaceable. Someone he was most afraid to lose. Someone he couldn't afford to lose. Batman had lost the one person he couldn't live without… He had lost his wife – his entire life.


	13. The Heart of a Knight

**A/N:** The intensity is going to pick up even more in this chapter. I've been going back and forth with how I want this to go… I hope you guys like this.

* * *

**The Heart of a Knight**

"How pathetic" Darkseid watched Batman rest his forehead on Wonder Woman's as he continued to cradle her body while rocking back and forth. "The Amazon has made you ridiculously weak… If I had known that it would be this easy to take you down, I would have killed her immediately." Darkseid grinned, knowing that Batman was suffering through the horrible and traumatic pains of his loss.

Pure anger and adrenaline surged through Batman's veins as he clenched his jaw down tightly. He placed Wonder Woman on the floor before taking his cape off to cover her. His eyes narrowed into tiny white slits as he stood straight up and glared at Darkseid. No one said a word as they never seen a glare from Batman as furiously terrifying as the one he displayed right now… not to mention that they had never seen him this beyond pissed off before either. "I'll show you just how powerful I really am as I beat you down into the ground." Batman said in a cold dark tone.

"Highly improbable…" Darkseid waved off his minions from attacking Batman.

"Then what are you afraid of?" Batman held his fists up, motioning for Darkseid to take off his restraints.

Darkseid chuckled. "A fight to the death with you?"

"Batman! I'm done! The virus should take effect any second now! Z and G are on their way out!" Oracle's voice rang through Batman's earpiece as he looked up to see Darkseid's main ship start to dip down towards the ground. Everyone watched all of Darkseid's ships crash into the already demolished buildings throughout the city while every single Parademon instantly collapsed onto the floor.

Darkseid frantically looked around to see the results of whatever Batman did. "What have you done?"

"I'll simplify it so that even a being of your pathetic intelligence level can comprehend it…" Batman's voice was still filled with anger instead of his emotionless flat tone. "I wrote a program to destroy every bit of Brainiac's presence within your network."

Darkseid furiously gritted his teeth as pure rage took over. "DIE!" He raised his hand to shoot another anti-life beam at Batman. Darkseid's eyes widened in shock as nothing happened. He tried again, but still nothing happened.

Batman felt his adrenaline increase the sizes of his muscles while bringing his strength and power to the max. His anger and rage were beginning to completely take over his mind. "You really are an idiot… the virus also destroyed all traces of the anti-life equation and its powers from your pitifully secured network. That means it wiped out everything you gained from it in the process, since you stupidly infused yourself into your own network. All that's left of the anti-life equation is in here." Batman tapped his head. "You're nothing more than your weak pathetic self."

"After everything you have done to me, your death by my hands shall be very rewarding." His eyes flashed as Batman's restraints unlocked and fell to the ground. "Even at my original strength, you're no match for me."

Batman walked towards Darkseid. "One way or another, this ends now."

The leaguers were still trying to comprehend what had just happened. Most watched as Batman made his way over to Darkseid without any hint of hesitation and began attacking him in pure uncontrollable rage. The ones who knew martial arts dropped their jaws in shock as they saw Batman throw many deadly and lethal combinations at Darkseid. It was nothing like anything any of them had ever seen before. The movements were so perfectly timed and executed with such brutality that they couldn't believe that Darkseid was actually able to block half of them. Batman relentlessly attacked Darkseid, striking him in the throat, kidneys, ribs… and every other place that Darkseid failed to protect.

The rest of the league couldn't take their thoughts off of Wonder Woman's courageous act of sacrificing herself to protect Batman. They couldn't accept the fact that she was actually dead and wasn't coming back… especially Donna. "Di… Diana… that's… that's not possible…" Her tear filled eyes were fixated on Batman's cape that completely covered her sister's body. Donna's traumatized trance left her completely unaware of the brutal battle taking place between Batman and Darkseid. "Get… get up Di… I know you're not dead. It's not possible… no way…"

"Donna…" Supergirl nervously tried to get Donna to snap out of it. "Don't worry… Batman will…"

"SHE'S NOT DEAD!" Donna yelled as she crawled over to her sister's body. "She's an Amazon Warrior! She's my sister!" Finally reaching her body, Donna continuously shook Diana as rivers of tears poured down onto Batman's cape.

"I… I can't believe it…" Superman did the best he could to sit up after being extensively electrocuted. "Is she really…"

J'onn took a deep breath before looking into his teammate's eyes. "I'm afraid she is… and from the look of it, so is Batman inside…" He looked up to see Batman take a shot to the throat before Darkseid began hammering away at his face.

"Diana can't be dead. She just can't be… if Bats found a way to come back, then Diana can too, right?" Flash said as his voice was filled with hope.

"SHE'S NOT DEAD!" Donna screamed at the others while The Huntress and Black Canary finally managed to crawl over and comfort her as best as they could.

"Relax kiddo, it isn't over yet…" Catwoman watched Batman burst out of a pile of rubble and continue his uncharacteristically ruthless and vicious assault on Darkseid.

Donna glared at Catwoman. "Like you care! You heartless…"

"HEY!" Catwoman cut Donna off as she glared back at her. "I admit that she and I weren't the best of friends, but I did respect her. I know how important she is to him. She's the ONLY person who could and can stop him from becoming this!" She angrily pointed at a now sloppy and reckless Batman fighting on pure hatred and anger. As much as Selina hated to admit it, she knew how perfect they really were for each other. Selina knew Bruce, and because she knew him, it was extremely obvious how deeply connected to Diana he really was. "We've got to find a way out of these things and help him before he really loses it!" Catwoman attempted to pick the locks of her restraints with her claws.

"She's right. We got to find a way to help Batman. He won't last if he keeps this up." Green Lantern moved in between Catwoman and Donna to separate the two as best he could.

"It doesn't matter what we do…" Nightwing's eyes narrowed as he watched his mentor continue to disregard his own body's well-being while fighting Darkseid. "He won't allow us to help him."

"Like we never heard that before…" Supergirl rolled her eyes as she continued to hold onto Donna.

"It's not like we're in any position to help him anyways." Flash winced as he watched Batman take several strikes to the head before Darkseid slammed him into the floor.

"There won't be anything left if we don't help him now!" Shayera gritted her teeth as Darkseid repeatedly slammed Batman's head further into the ground.

"And here I thought that Bats totally lost it that time in Arkham, but that doesn't even come close to this." Flash glanced at Donna holding Diana before returning his attention back to the fight.

"Relax…" Robin stated calmly. "It's only a matter of time before he regains control."

"How can you be sure?" J'onn watched as Batman continued to fight in complete and uncontrollable rage. "I have never seen Batman give in to his anger like this before."

"Because he's Batman" Nightwing said as everyone watched Darkseid throw Batman across the courtyard and into what was left of the embassy. "He won't let us help him… but one way or another, he'll bring himself back. He always does, but not as quickly as we sometimes hope he would..."

"_Diana… she's gone… You killed her…_" Breathing heavily, Batman slowly rose to his feet after moving the rubble off of himself. "_You'll pay… with your life…_" He wiped the blood from his mouth while glaring back at an oncoming Darkseid. Batman's body was completely beaten and battered as pain was shooting up and down his spine. It felt as if his back was broken… it wouldn't have surprised him if it was. He couldn't feel various parts of his body or control his limbs well enough to execute complicated maneuvers. The only thing that allowed Batman to get back up and continue the fight was the adrenaline surging throughout his body from the pure uncontrollable rage that consumed him.

Darkseid couldn't believe that Batman was still standing after what he had put him through. It was as if he was going to win this fight or die trying. Not even Superman was this relentless. Batman wasn't as strong or as quick as Superman, but he more than made up for it with his superior fighting technique and brutality. With his own body pushed past its limits, Darkseid didn't know how much longer he would last fighting Batman. "_Damn this peon… I'll actually have to use my Omega energy to kill this annoyance before I lose this battle._" He was fighting off extreme exhaustion and fatigue as he slowly made his way towards Batman. Darkseid's muscles were shutting down as breathing for air became agonizingly painful with several broken ribs poking into his partially collapsed lungs.

Batman stumbled back to the ground as Darkseid stood before him. Gasping for as much air as possible, Batman forced himself up as Darkseid powered up for one final knockout punch to the head. Using up every last ounce of adrenaline left in his body, Batman countered Darkseid's strike one last time. He dodged the monstrous punch and followed with a devastating uppercut to the chin. The powerful hit caused Darkseid's head to snap back as blood came spewing out of his mouth. Batman immediately delivered a strike to Darkseid's gut as he was falling backwards. As Darkseid hobbled over holding his stomach and coughing up blood, Batman grabbed his head and rammed his left knee into his face. The tremendous amount of force Batman used completely shattered Darkseid's skull while breaking his own kneecap in the process. Batman's left leg was now totally useless as excruciating pain throbbed throughout the upper half while the lower half remained completely numb. Darkseid fell onto the floor with rivers of blood streaming out of his nose and mouth while Batman gingerly leaned on his right leg.

Extreme fatigue took over Batman's body, distorting his vision while making it impossible for him to walk. "_Got… got to finish this…_" Batman mentally forced his body to obey his orders and move over towards Darkseid's motionless bloody carcass. Because it was impossible to put any weight on his left leg, he forced a small hop with his right. It buckled the instant he landed, causing him to fall face first onto the floor. A trail of blood followed Batman as his rage and anger still continued to drive him to finish off Darkseid. It felt as if Batman had just climbed Mt. Olympus all over again to reach Darkseid, even though he only crawled for about three feet. Finally reaching Darkseid, Batman took a deep breath before setting himself up to bash in what was left of Darkseid's skull and kill him once and for all. Batman raised his fist into the air as he stared down at Darkseid's hideously disfigured face.

To the surprise of everyone, especially Batman, Darkseid's eyes popped open as he shot Batman in the face with a fully powered energy beam. Everyone watched Batman's body fly across the courtyard and land on the floor with a loud thud. It was a terrifying sight as time seemed to slow down, making Batman's trip from one side of the courtyard to the other last forever. Everyone's eyes locked onto Batman's lifeless body in complete silence. He didn't move at all… they couldn't even hear him breathe. Their eyes slowly made their way back to Darkseid as he got back up onto his feet after wiping the blood off of his face with the back of his left hand. There was nothing but pure anger and frustration in his eyes. No one has ever beaten Darkseid this badly before.

With adrenaline fueling his body, Darkseid slowly made his way over to Batman. Darkseid's eyes narrowed as he looked down at what was left of The Dark Knight. Seeing that Batman was unconscious, he grabbed him by the throat with his left hand and lifted him off of the floor. Batman's feet were inches off of the ground as Darkseid began to repeatedly punch him in the gut until he regained consciousness. Darkseid squeezed Batman's throat once he started coughing up blood. "Normally I would have you witness your loved ones suffer tremendously as they beg for death… but as you have so blatantly proved, keeping you alive is the most idiotic decision I can make." Darkseid watched Batman's eyes slowly roll back as he started to drift off. He squeezed again to recapture Batman's attention. "Believe me when I say that I WILL make your so-called family suffer a fate worse than death as they pay for what you've done."

Darkseid's insistence on making Batman fully aware of what was going on gave his brain the time it needed to reboot itself and allow him to think rationally once again. With his vision clearing up, he glared back at Darkseid. "You're pathetic…"

Darkseid watched Batman continue to cough up blood as he tightened his grip further. "Loving the weak and pitiful Amazon is pathetic… She truly was your downfall. The Amazon weakened you more than anyone else could ever do… I should have thanked her for that."

"She… she's made me… stronger… more powerful… than you can possibly imagine…" Batman muttered out between coughs.

"Delusional fool…" Darkseid ripped into Batman's chest with his hand, grabbing onto his heart as Batman yelled in agonizing pain. "Now you will join her in the afterlife."

Everyone watched the pool of blood underneath Batman continue to grow as Darkseid held Batman by the throat and heart. None of them could believe what was happening… let alone watch Batman die in such a demoralizing way. Blood completely soaked Darkseid's right arm as what was left of Batman's suit was now entirely soaked in blood.

Batman refused to pass out from the excruciating pain that had just exponentially increased due to his now completely shattered rib cage, two collapsed lungs, and having Darkseid's fingers dig into his heart. "That's… the… plan…" He spat the remaining blood out of his mouth and into Darkseid's face as he held his hand up in the air. While Darkseid's eyelids instinctively closed when the mixture of blood and spit hit him in the face, a small device zipped through the air and landed in Batman's hand with perfect precision. Batman instantly activated it, as what looked like an electrical net ensnared the both of them. "You… remember… this?" Batman could feel the insurmountable pain of the device as it overloaded and decimated his nervous system. "The Agony Matrix… you used on Superman…amplified by the anti-life equation… to kill… even you…"

Darkseid's eyes widened in disbelief as he felt the unbearable pain surging through his entire body. "NO! How… impossible… how did you…" The pain continued to increase by a thousand fold per second. It rampaged its way from the lower end of his spine and up towards his brain, obliterating every single nerve along the way.

Batman took one last gasp of air before his lungs were about to completely fail him. "See… you… in hell…" The shockwaves of the Agony Matrix finally reached Batman's brain and exploded his cerebral cortex, causing his head to lifelessly fall forward.

Darkseid could only glare at a dead Batman as he dropped to his knees. His rage and anger overpowered the pain as he knew that Batman had gotten the better of him yet again. In pure hatred for The Dark Knight, Darkseid shot one last blast through Batman's chest and disintegrated his heart in the process. Everyone watched in horror as the giant red energy beam blasted through Batman's back and into the sky. With the Agony Matrix finally overloading and destroying his brain, Darkseid collapsed onto the floor as blood poured out of his eyes and ears.

Everyone was speechless as they tried to comprehend what had just happened. Ghost and Zatanna jumped down from the roof of a partially collapsed building and made their way to their fallen friend. Ghost somberly gazed upon Batman while Zatanna couldn't bear to look at his mutilated and bloodied body as she hugged Ghost tightly, burying her face into his neck. Ghost rested his head on top of hers and gave a moment of silence to honor his life long friend. Ghost took a deep breath before taking Zatanna's face in his hands and looking into her tear filled eyes. He waited until she was emotionally stable enough to hold herself up as he wiped the streams of tears off her face with his thumbs. Seeing that she had regained some of her composure, he stepped away to pick up a knife-edged spear.

"Wha… what are you going to do?" Zatanna watched Ghost walk over to the two dead men with the spear in hand.

Ghost respectfully bowed to Batman before turning to glare at Darkseid. His eyes narrowed into tiny red slits as he raised the knife-edged spear over his head. "_What Bruce told me to do… to make sure we get the job done._" In one powerfully fluid chopping motion, he swung the blade down and decapitated Darkseid.

Hearing the loud sound of the metal blade cutting through Darkseid's neck and hitting the concrete floor startled Zatanna and the rest of the league. They all watched Darkseid's head roll a few feet away before turning back to see Ghost deactivating the anti-life equation enhanced Agony Matrix. Ghost kneeled down and took the key to disarm the restraints out of Batman's utility belt before motioning to Zatanna to use her magic and move Batman's body over to Wonder Woman's. Zatanna wiped her tears away with her hand and nodded before taking her wand out. She gently lifted his body into the air and followed Ghost over towards Wonder Woman and the rest of the founding members.

Ghost walked over to Flash and unlocked him before giving him the key to quickly free everyone else. Within seconds, the entire league was free as they crowded around the dead bodies of Batman and Wonder Woman. No one said anything… mainly because there was nothing to be said. Batman did what he said he was going to do – he did whatever it took to defeat Darkseid and save the world. It was a very steep price to pay, costing Batman his, and Wonder Woman's life. They sacrificed their own lives to make it certain that everyone else can continue living theirs.

The league and the remaining citizens all dreadfully watched Ghost direct the batclan on moving the bodies off of the embassy grounds. The Huntress and Black Canary finally got Donna to release Diana's body so that Zatanna could magically lift her up next to Batman's. The rest of the batclan and The Birds formed a circular perimeter around the two fallen heroes as they waited for Ghost's orders. Ghost turned to lead them out of the courtyard when he saw Superman standing before him with a sorrow look on his face. Everyone curiously waited in silence as the two men stared at each other. Superman sighed deeply as he placed his hand on Ghost's shoulder, nodding before stepping aside to allow Ghost to lead his unit out of the courtyard. Ghost nodded in return while everyone else stepped out of the way as the batclan continued through the crowd. The long silence matched the dismal atmosphere as half of the leaguers were grieving over the loss of Batman and Wonder Woman while the other half still refused to accept their deaths.

"What do we do now?" Supergirl's sights were still fixated in the direction in which she last saw Batman and Wonder Woman being carried out of the courtyard.

Superman took a deep breath as he mentally replayed what had just happened, and how he was powerless to do anything about it. Guilt started to creep into his mind as he believed he had somehow let his two best friends down. "If I know him… and I do… he would want us to do what we can to restore order to the world, and move on as if they were just casualties of war…" Superman rested his hand on his cousin's shoulder as he tried to make the best comforting smile he possibly could under the circumstances. "But… we'll honor them like the heroes they truly are."

* * *

**A/N: **It got kind of graphic I know… I thought I'd try to give the best illustration I could of what was happening. This isn't what most of you wanted to see, but it does make sense to me, and seems like a good way to almost close out the story. I have one more chapter to go. Then the epilogue to wrap things up in what I think will be in a good way.


	14. The Memorial

**A/N: **Hey guys! So this is the last chapter of my trilogy! I hope you all enjoyed my stories. I'm writing the epilogue right now, but thought I'd post this for you guys.

* * *

**The Memorial**

The funeral was biggest global gathering in the history of the Earth's existence. In front of the new embassy's main entrance, a memorial with Batman's unmistakable black insignia stood tall with Wonder Woman's golden symbolic emblem lined up and centered perfectly in front of his. It amazed everyone how their symbols were so entirely different, but fit so beautifully well together. The sharp black color of the bat in the background easily made the bright golden W's stand out as it stayed within the perimeter of the bat's outline. Of course, the few who knew the both of them well weren't surprised that their iconic symbols easily brought out the best of the other. They believed it was only a matter of time before the two would eventually combine their emblems one day.

The batclan and founding members of The Justice League took their positions on the main stage in front of the newly created memorial. Each of them spoke to all of those who came to honor the pair. The leaguers filled out the courtyard while various world leaders and certain Gotham VIP's sat front and center. With the help of some super powered heroes, the league managed to temporarily place stadium-like seats for the people of the world to watch the ceremony take place. Special forces around the universe also attended as the entire Green Lantern corps, the Amazon race, and even the Olympian Gods came to honor Batman and Wonder Woman. The ceremony lasted throughout the day and into the night. After it was over, each and every single being who attended it went up to the monument to pay their respects personally.

Just like anything and everything concerning Batman, the funeral came with a perplexing mystery attached to it as well. There were dozens of rumors and speculations about the true burial site of Batman and Wonder Woman. Many believed that they were buried in the heart of Gotham, while others theorized that they were under the memorial itself. There were some rumors that had them separated, with Wonder Woman being taken back to the Themyscira while Batman was buried within the batcave. Even the majority of The Justice League didn't know where exactly Batman and Wonder Woman rested. It was however, strongly believed that the two were together wherever they were. Only a select few knew what had truly happened to both Batman and Wonder Woman, but contributed to the mystery and rumors as each of them gave different answers to anyone who asked. Why they chose to keep up the mystery wasn't entirely clear… but the ones who attempted to solve it came to realize that it was impossible to figure out. They reasoned that it most likely had to deal with keeping the both of them safe in solitude.

"I miss them…" A tall well built man in a blue suit sighed as he stared at the most famous landmark in the world.

His wife, in a purple coat and white skirt, shaded her eyes from the late autumn sun as she felt the cool breeze blow her hair into his shoulder. She picked up a crumpled up newspaper that the wind gently blew into her feet. A smile appeared on her face as she straightened out the paper and read the front page. "Batman and Wonder Woman: Earth's greatest heroes… by Lois Lane and Clark Kent…" Lois folded the paper and put it into her pocket as she turned to watch Clark continue to somberly stare at the monument. She tucked the loose strands of hair fluttering in front of her face behind her ear with her right hand as she held onto Clark's arm with the other. "I miss them too."

"Despite what he said earlier, he really was our leader. The one who planned for everything and was prepared for anything. There were countless times when we won battles because of him, and times where he single handedly won it without us... just like he did against Darkseid." He clenched his jaw in anger for a moment. After Batman had killed Darkseid, Superman threw Darkseid's rotting corpse into the sun to watch it completely disintegrate in great satisfaction. "Batman refused to lose, did whatever it took to save the world. I can't remember how many times he and Wonder Woman would fight over his continuous habit of sacrificing himself in order to save the world. Believe it or not, I actually kind of miss hearing them argue about it now. How he managed to escape death all those times, I still don't know… and now he's gone." Clark sighed deeply. "It's all my fault… I… I should have ended Darkseid when I had a chance… I…"

Lois quickly stepped in front of Clark as she grabbed his face, forcing him to look directly at her. "It's NOT your fault Clark. They did what they had to do to save us. I know you would've done the exact same thing if the roles were reversed." She tilted her head smirking. "…but it wouldn't surprise me if HE found a way to sacrifice himself at the last second instead, just to spite you."

Clark laughed as he shook his head. "Yea… quoting Diana… that stubborn manipulative bastard…" He wrapped his arms around Lois as she turned to look at the memorial with him. "Even now, I sometimes I still can't believe that she actually got him…"

Lois placed her hands on top of his as he caressed her stomach. "Yea… I remember when she first came here… didn't want anything to do with you people. It was strictly business… save the world while tolerating men's presence."

Clark rested his head on top of hers. "Everyone loved her… All the girls looked up to her. She was a great hero… a great woman… a great friend. She alone upheld truth, strength, and honor, no matter the situation. Diana was a great influence and presence that will never be replaced…"

"She definitely was a favorite of the people…" A fat grin grew on Lois' face. "As I recall, Diana was more popular than you despite losing a lot of votes from the male population the instant she married him and wore a darker, more… intimidating… outfit."

Clark thought back to how the public reacted to Diana's new look when she first appeared in it. The men kept their mouths shut and their wandering eyes off of her as if she was just another hero… but that probably had more to do with being known as Batman's wife than anything else. "Out of all the men she could have chosen to love… she chose him. Isn't it funny how things worked out with her falling for a man who was her complete and total opposite? Picking the darkest, coldest, most antisocial, arrogant, stubborn, thickheaded man alive?"

Lois laughed at Clark's description of Bruce. "You mean the sweetest, most caring, charming, and charismatic man alive." They both knew just how alike Batman and Wonder Woman actually were. "She truly picked the best man born on this planet to fall in love with. It's easy to see why she fell for him, there's no one as selfless and courageous as him. When she first told me about her feelings for him, I knew she'd eventually crack him." She saw Clark skeptically raise an eyebrow. "Come on… there's no man in existence that can resist her beauty… not even Batman."

"And here I thought it was because she was more stubborn than him, never taking a "no" for an answer." Clark couldn't help but laugh with Lois. "I'll never understand how she was able to do the things she did to get him to open up… The fact that she was able to bring light into that man's heart is truly her greatest triumph. She truly is a Wonder Woman."

"You don't understand because you're not a woman." A mischievous smirk appeared on Lois' face. "But yes, Diana loved him more than anything." She felt Clark lift his head off of the top of hers as he stood straight up.

"I just wish the people would appreciate and remember just how great Batman truly was…" Clark took out a piece of cloth to clean his glasses before taking a few steps towards the two gigantic symbols in front of him. "Most of the people came to honor Wonder Woman… as if they had already forgotten Batman and everything he's done." They both knew that Batman wasn't the most liked hero. The fact that the majority of the population was downright terrified of him because of his reputation alone didn't help. Batman was cold, dark, and unnerving most of the time… if not all the time.

"Heroes get remembered, but legends never die." Lois walked up next to him as she crossed her arms over her chest while gazing at the monument. "You don't have to worry about that Smallville. Batman's legacy… and Wonder Woman's too for that matter, will live on forever. Besides, you know him… He never did this for the recognition. He did it because it was the right thing to do. Batman took it upon himself to make sure that no eight-year-old boy will ever lose his parents to some punk with a gun again."

Clark nodded as he continued to look up at the memorial. "When it came down to having one person… one person to save me from anything, it would be him hands down. Just like I know he's the one person every member of the league would choose to save them. Batman was by far, the most respected member in the league. He wasn't the hero the world wanted or rooted for, but he was their silent guardian, their watchful protector… He was the hero the world needed, what the world deserved. I am, and always will be so greatly honored to have the privilege of calling him, along with Diana, my best friends."

Lois hugged him tightly before breaking away. "Oh! I just remembered… Tim called me earlier today. He said something about finding some type of elixir research documents with your name on it."

A giant grin immediately appeared on Clark's face as he looked into his wife's eyes. "After everything that has happened, I just want to let you know that I love you more than anything." He saw a confused looked on her face as she raised an eyebrow. "And now I realize just how precious life is even more… After watching what both Bruce and Diana went through, I'm going to cherish every single moment I spend with you. I love you too much to lose you for any amount of time…"

Lois cupped his cheek with her left hand as she tilted her head. "I love you too… I get terrified every time I see you in those hellacious battles. I wouldn't know what I'd do without you either, but I know life has to eventually end. Just as I know that you'll naturally outlive me by who knows how long… If there was a way we could die together, I'd be all for it…"

Clark quickly kissed Lois passionately until she reciprocated the intensity back towards him. After breaking away, he saw the confused look reappearing on Lois' face. "I'll explain on the way…" He held out his hand to see her hesitantly look at it, then back up into his eyes. She was still confused, but trusted him nonetheless. Lois firmly placed her hand on Clark's as her smile reflected his. Before walking off with Lois, Clark stopped to take one last look at the monument. "_Thank you. Thank you so much… for everything that you both have done. I promise you that I won't forget… I'll never forget._"

* * *

**A/N:** I was on the fence about keeping either Diana or Bruce alive, but I felt this seemed like a good way to "end" things. For those who didn't want them to die, remember, I still have the epilogue and should post that soon. Hopefully you'll like that.

I think I'll be taking a break from writing for a while. I may write some quick one-shots here and there, if something funny or interesting pops into my head. They will most likely be the "deleted scenes" from this story or something like that.


	15. Epilogue

**A/N:** Well I've finally made it! This is the end of my trilogy. I hope you all have enjoyed reading them as I did writing them. I'm probably going to take it easy for a while and write one shots of BMWW that relate to my stories. Some deleted scenes or funny situations that could occur before/after/in my stories. I know some of you wanted to see the fights between the villains and Darkseid, so I'll put that on my to-do list. If you guys have any particular scenes you'd like me to write up, just let me know!

* * *

**Epilogue**

In her royal bedroom within the confines of the Olympian palace on the peak of Mt. Olympus, the Goddess of Truth and Honor slept peacefully as the morning sunlight entered through the balcony. Stirring herself awake, she rolled over to face the other side of the massive bed. With her eyes still closed, she reached her arm out for her companion only to find that she was alone. The Goddess opened her eyes and frowned in disappointment. Finally sitting up, she stretched her limbs before climbing out of bed. Feeling a little too lazy to actually wash up and change into her proper attire like she would normally do, she used her godly powers to instantly do the same instead. Her black nightgown transformed into her usual white royal gown with golden trims that easily emphasized her beautifully perfect curvaceous features. Satisfied after taking one last look at herself in the mirror, The Goddess of Truth and Honor went off to find where her eternal mate had gone.

The Goddess didn't have to venture far as she found The God of Vengeance doing what he almost always does, sitting on his throne within the main room of their royal chamber. Dressed in his black royal attire, he sat with his left hand holding up his head as he stared into a vision cloud. The Goddess shook her head before quietly floating towards her husband. Knowing that he was aware of her presence, she stopped and leaned on the back of his chair. Seeing that she wasn't getting a single reaction from him, she playfully wrapped her arms around his neck as her fingers gently caressed his muscular chest. "Why didn't you wake me up?" She patiently waited for a response while harmoniously humming to pass the time.

With the sound of her humming finally getting to him, The God of Vengeance shifted all the way back into his chair as his wife comfortably curled up in her usual spot on his lap. "I didn't want to disturb you." Still not taking his focus off of the vision cloud, he rested his left hand on her right thigh while his right was on her hip, allowing his arm to support her back.

Chuckling, she tapped his chest with the tip of her right index finger to make his unmistakable bat insignia magically appear. "Liar… you know I hate it when I wake up without you." Diana felt his lips press against her forehead, knowing that it was his attempt at a nonverbal form of an apology. She smiled as she turned her attention to the new Batman in the vision cloud. "So how's Dick doing as the new Batman?"

Bruce watched Batman easily take down four thugs before interrogating the leader. "He's good… but should be better."

Diana laughed. "He's not you… and even though he doesn't have your wonderful brain, I think he's doing a great job taking your place." A smirk slowly formed on her face. "I kind of like how "Batman" has mysteriously cut down on the brutality and the extensive brooding in the last year."

Bruce shook his head. "Intimidation is a powerful weapon…"

Diana looked on to see Batman being joined by Batgirl, Robin, and Batwoman. "Well now that you've blessed Barbara with the ability to walk again, I know she'll keep him in check and make sure that frown doesn't turn upside down."

Bruce laughed sarcastically. "And how's Donna doing?"

Diana's smirk turned into a grin as she waved her hand at the cloud to reveal the new Wonder Woman fighting alongside Supergirl, The Huntress, and Black Canary. "She's good, but could be better." Diana felt her stomach growl in emptiness. "Oh… I almost forgot… we're going to Zatanna's place in San Francisco for brunch." She quickly got up while tugging at Bruce to get out of the chair.

Bruce raised his eyebrow. "What do you mean WE? And since when did it become her place? The last time I checked, it was still HIS place."

Diana smirked as she taped her chin with her index finger. "Well… IF you don't want to go see them… we still owe Kal and Lois a visit…"

"San Francisco it is!" Bruce immediately jumped out of the chair after disabling the vision cloud.

Diana laughed as she shook her head. "Is spending a few hours talking with Kal really that bad?"

"Depends on what he wants to talk about." Bruce turned around to see Diana glaring at him. "What? Isn't having the right to make jokes and laugh at Kent the whole point in making him one of my best friends?" Bruce smirked as he watched Diana playfully roll her eyes at him. "Well… at least I get to wear normal civilian clothes again." Bruce looked down at his chiton. "Can you tell me why I agreed to wear this again?"

Diana smiled as she straightened out his clothes. "Because my God of Vengeance… If you are to be a God like the rest of us, you must dress like one." After making him look presentable enough, her fingers quickly found their way to his bat symbol. "At least you get to keep this." She looked back up at Bruce's face to see that genuine smile that would only appear for her. "Let's go, I'm hungry."

Bruce kissed her tenderly on the lips. "Very well Princess…"

Diana playfully pouted her lips while wrapping her arms around the back of his neck. "You know I'm not a princess any more."

"True… but you will always be my princess." A smirk reappeared Bruce's face.

Diana couldn't help but grin as she magically transformed their clothes into normal human attire. "Oh… by the way, I already told Lois that we're having lunch with them tomorrow in Metropolis."

* * *

**A/N: **Thanks again for reading my stories and supporting me throughout this journey! I really do appreciate it!


End file.
